Well it sounds like it was a hectically wonderful week there at home, as it was here! I love being a missionary here and being able to serve in this capacity as Assistant. There was a LOT going on this week which I'll tell you about a little later on, but we made it and managed to continue to see miracles in the work. It's amazing how the Lord truly blesses us when we try to do our part.
I'm sure the Munros and new missionaries will love the pens and I look forward to seeing their faces when I give them to them. We love having the new missionaries here!
So now it is time to hear about my week...here I go!!
1. How did transfers go? Where are your friends from the MTC? - Transfers went off with few problems in travel, which was a great blessing. We haven't sent out the Transfer Fax yet but to give you a couple ideas: Elder Story is in Prague, Elder Spencer is in Brno, Elder Salas is in a threesome of zone leaders in Plzen, Elder Jones is in Zlin, Elder Heath is in Trebic and Elder Medonich is in Olomouc still. We are really excited for all the companionships in the mission this transfer and know it was truly inspired to put everyone together with who they are with. I love how inspired President Irwin is in his judgment calls and assignments.
2. How was the group of new missionaries? Were they excited or like deer in headlights? - The new missionaries are wonderful! They were understandably quite tired but the adrenaline helped a bit to keep them awake I think. I was so impressed with them and look forward to seeing them shine in the field. Elder Coleman loves his new companion, Elder Bushnell, and they're going to do amazing work there in HK. We welcomed all the new missionaries on Tuesday afternoon at the airport - they had been delayed in London because of snow, so our plans for the day were shot a bit, but they all arrived with all their luggage. We drove them back and sent the Slovak elders off to Bratislava to get their visas done in the morning, and we left with the Czechs to get a meal at the piano restaurant (the real name is Na Rozhrani, but we call it the piano restaurant because an old Czech man always plays the piano in the restaurant at nights). On Wednesday it was breakfast, the foreign police, and then pair up their companions and off to their areas! We then picked up all the departing missionaries from the train/bus stations and brought them back to the office, where they had their interviews, a quick walk around Praha, and then joined President and Sister Irwin, along with us, for dinner. It was a wonderful evening and fun to be there with Elders Buhler and Egger. They will all be missed in the mission, yet the work moves forwards.
3. What does Elder Gabrielsen think of his new assignment? Is he excited? - He is excited! It is fun to be back with him and serving together. There is a huge learning curve for the responsibilities of being assistant, along with a lot of people to meet and memorize names for here in Prague, and he's doing well. We love to serve together and are looking forward to a wonderful transfer full of miracles.
4. Where is Elder Gabrielsen from? Will you be on the road with him lot this week? - He is from a little town in Utah called New Harmony. We will not be on the road a ton this week but are looking forward to some fun events. Next week we will have a special visitor to our Zone Leader Council - Elder Richards of the Seventy. He is in the area presidency and will attend our Zone Leader Council this Thursday. We are excited and admittedly a little nervous for him to come, but we're preparing well and "if (we) are prepared, (we) shall not fear."
5. Is the mp3 player working out okay? If you want some different stuff we can load it on the ipod you sent home. Just let us know. - The mp3 player works great - thanks so much for all the work you put into preparing all the music on it.
6. Were you able to teach investigators this week? How did that go? - We did, and it went great! So I think I've waited long enough to let you know the best news of the week - our investigator was baptized! It was so amazing to see how prepared she was for the service and for the gospel. All of her friends in the branch were at her baptism and she gave the most beautiful testimony after the service in which she said how grateful she was to everyone who helped her to learn about the gospel and come to know the Book of Mormon is true. She thanked her Heavenly Father for helping her find the right path. Elder Coleman baptized her and it was beautiful. She thanked us for finishing the work her "bratri" (Elders Tenney and Durrant) started in December. There were some investigators at her baptism and afterwards we had a lesson with one of them and he accepted a baptismal date for February 16! So the work moves on here in Praha. We are continuing to work with all our other investigators and love them all. We had a lesson with our recent convert this morning and she said that the feelings she had at her baptism were indescribable. She is wonderful and is already excited to prepare to go to the temple with the branch in March. We are just so thrilled for her and are thrilled that she is happy. She is so special and I can't wait for you to meet her one day.
One more quick miracle I'd like to share before closing. So last transfer Elder Coleman and I introduced ourselves to all our neighbors and brought around brownies and cookies as a little "American treat" and we talked to this really nice young mom. Her husband wasn't home but she was there with her 2 little boys. We had a nice conversation and found out she had been to temple square and had a little tour done in Czech! She loved it there and thought it was beautiful. She later that day dropped off some Czech cukrovi (little Christmas cookies) and this week Elder Gabrielsen and I returned the box she gave them to us in. We had another wonderful conversation and asked her more about what she knows about the church. She pulled out her photo album and showed us all these pictures of them at Temple Square, postcards from Utah, them in front of the Christus statue in the visitors center and so on. She filled out her contact information with the missionaries there and Sister missionaries brought her a book of mormon. That was 10 years ago. Well this week she pulled it out to show us and invited us over to their home for a visit. We will be going there on next Wednesday to meet with her and her husband. They are a beautiful family and we are so excited to be able to teach them the gospel. Please pray for us at 7:30 Wednesday evening Czech time that the lesson will go well and that they'll feel the spirit and recognize it. It would be absolutely amazing to help a full, happy family accept the gospel. I love this gospel and how much it truly can strengthen families.
So that is a good overview of my week! It's been exhaustingly wonderful and wonderfully exhausting. The Church is true and the Lord loves us individually and collectively. God be with you, family!
Love you all,
S laskou,
Starsi Mullen
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