Happy Easter Wherever You Are!!

March 27, 2013

 Hello, family!

So sorry about the lack of email yesterday, no office here in Jihlava for us to conveniently email at haha. But I am so excited and happy to be here. My new companion who I am training is amazing and I have so much love and respect for him already. He is a work horse and is so willing to just jump in with both feet into this experience. Unfortunately the library where we usually email is also closed, so I can't email in full today, we're just sending a short email today from a little cafe with only one computer haha and will write in full tomorrow. We are already seeing miracles here and it is exciting to be back out in the field. I'll send the email in another message for the elder's family - please tell her how much I appreciate her son and all he's done to prepare to be here. It is a privilege being his companion and feel as though I'm learning from him as much, if not more, than I am teaching him. I love you so much and will send a longer email with the details tomorrow. I love missionary work!

S laskou,
Starsi Mullen

Ahoj! So good to be writing you. Now we are in the library and it's open and we're excited to email and fill you in on all the juicy details! I am here in Jihlava and love it. As I wrote in my short email yesterday, my companion is Elder P and he's amazing! I really enjoy working with him and we have had a wonderful first week. My how that week flew by! It's exciting to be out in the field "on the front lines" again.

I loved your emails and hearing about all the happenings at home! How exciting for Libby to go to Africa! What an adventure that'll be. Please continue to send my love and best wishes to all the family. I sure do love you all!

The class schedule looks wonderful and how great that I'll even have MComm with Darren. I loved the picture and seeing that Darren is still Darren, just older and wiser and changed by his mission as all of us have been. I love my friends and feel so blessed to have each of them in my life. I think back to it and realize how much of a wonderful influence each of them had on me. Thanks be to God for good family and good friends!

I'm also continuing to pray for Jenna and the baby! Everyone who I show our picture to just rave about how cute Landon is and when I tell them that Jenna's expecting a baby girl in the next couple weeks, they just love it.

So here are my answers to your questions!

1)  So tell us about this transfer week and what you did with the new missionaries to make them feel excited. - We had a wonderful week of transfers! We picked up the new missionaries and took them on the Prague Walk as usual, and it was a blast. The new missionaries are amazing! We got them metro contacting from the beginning and had a wonderful day with them. It was fun, too, because we didn't tell anyone that I was training, so it was a surprise on Wednesday when President called my name to pair up with my new companion. There is such life and faith that comes into the mission with a new group of missionaries. The work continues to move forward!

2)  Who is the new AP....he will have big pointy shoes to fill for sure!!  We assume that Starsi Gabrielsen stayed on to train the new AP - Yes, Elder Gabrielsen will be AP along with Starsi Osterloh! He was trained by Elder Egger as soon as I left in Plzen and he'll do an amazing job. He's a fantastic missionary and everybody loves him. So I'm super excited for him and Elder Gabrielsen to have a fantastic transfer together.

3)  Tell us about your new companion.  We think he's one lucky elder to have you!! - Ah, I could spend the rest of the email talking about him! He's from Utah, Lindon area I think, and is the oldest of 4 boys. He has a great go-get-em attitude and will have an amazing 2 years here. As I said in the last email, he's a work horse and does everything I encourage him to do. We'll be on a bus and I'll say "Elder, that lady looks like she needs the gospel" and he'll go talk to her with me or even by himself while I speak with someone else or listen in (ready to jump in if he needs any help with the language.) It's not easy coming into a foreign land like this with a language like this one doing all the things we're doing (contacting, tracting, phone calls in czech, extra studies for the 12-week program, etc.), but he's doing a great job. I'm learning so much from him as I hope he learns some things from me. We serve each other like there's no tomorrow (it's a battle to be able to iron one of our own shirts before the other one gets to it haha) and it brings a great spirit into our companionship. I'm so looking forward to these upcoming months serving and learning with him.

4)  Where are some of your other MTC brethren assigned? - Well, Elder S went back to Brno, Elder M is a Zone Leader in Olomouc still, Elder G is an assistant, Elder S is in Ostrava, Elder S in Liberec, and Elder H is in Trebic in my district! How exciting is that!? So we get to bookend our missions together.

5)  Any surprises this transfer?  Who besides Elder Coleman has the BIG transfer? - So 5 Elders had the big transfer -  No incredible surprises, just lots of inspired moves! I got a very nice email from Brother Coleman - please thank him for me and let him know how much I appreciate him and how much I loved the 2 transfers we served together. I look forward to catching up with him more in the future.

6)  Did you decide to send your painting home or will you hand carry it when you come? - I sent the painting home packed up with some other things in a big box. So keep an eye out for it coming. Thanks!

7)  When is p day for you?  We assume it's back to Monday beginning next week. - Yup, P-days will be on Mondays from now on. This week was an exception because of Easter, but from now on it'll be on Monday.

8)  What were the sweetest moments and memories of your final Sunday in Praha?  Are you okay? - Yup, I'm great. In Praha it didn't really even register that it was my last Sunday there. I've spent so many Sundays there that I didn't even realize that there would be a last one! But it was a sweet Sunday. Bratr C had the other missionaries stand up who were leaving and when he had me stand up he said how long I've been here and how much they've appreciated my work there - he then announced that I was going home that week (mixed me up with Elder Coleman haha), to which I quickly corrected "Ne, za dva mesice! Jeste mam dva mesice" haha. It was a wonderful Sunday, though. I love that branch and those people so much.

So I must end now because of time, sorry I can't write more! We are seeing miracles here in Jihlava. It is a small, lovely branch. On Sunday I was reminded of my first Sunday in Plzen. There were 9 members, the senior couple, and us. I got to play the piano, which was a blessing (nobody in the branch knows how, so when a missionary doesn't know how to play they have to sing a capella or to a hymn CD), and the people are amazing. We have a wonderful branch mission leader who is a returned missionary. He served in Wisconsin and wants to study at BYU next year, so we might see each other around often! I love these people already and they are so on board with missionary work! Just between yesterday and today we had 5 lessons with investigators, and all 5 were attended by one of those faithful members. They are huge examples to me. I love these people. I love my companion. This work is true and continues to go on. We've seen what the Lord has done in Plzen in the last 2 years - I'm thrilled to see what'll happen in Jihlava.

I love you all.

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

Joseph's Last Week in Prague!

March 22, 2013

 

 Well it sounds like it was a fantastic family weekend in Granite Bay! How exciting. Please send my greetings and prayers to everyone there. Isn't family just the best!?

Go ahead with the plane reservations for the trip, that'll be a fun trip! My feeling about the traveling is that probably the easiest and least-hassle way to do it would be to only sleep over in 2 cities - Praha and Brno. All the places that we would want to visit are easily accessible for day trips from one of those 2 cities. As far as the hotels here in Praha, I haven't a clue as to where is good - sorry I can't be of help in this area!

How cool that the Smilanick's ran into the Bohne's (or it might have been the Ostergaard's) in London. They'll have a wonderful mission there in Zimbabwe.

So here are some answers for my favorite family! haha
1)  Did you get your Easter Box?  How about the cookie box?  We think there is plenty to share. Ha Ha!!  Just no clues again this year! - Yes, I got both of them, and wowzers! There certainly is plenty to share. Thanks so much. All of the missionaries send their thanks - I gave a box to each district in Praha and HK zones and they were so appreciative of you. Missionary after missionary told me to thank the both of you. Especially Elder B, Elder Coleman's trainee, send his thanks for the pen, Tata. He absolutely loved it and it is a common sight for me to look out at the missionaries at specialized trainings and see them taking notes with a hand-carved olive wood pen. Thanks for that gift to each of them.
2)  Do you have any idea whether or not you are staying in Prague?  If you are not staying, do you know where you are going? We think you mentioned there are like 5 elders and 6 sisters coming this transfer.  Are we remembering correctly?  And that two of the sisters are Slovak speaking.  How cool is that. - Well, I do know that I'm not staying in Praha, but as for where I'm going, that's not for certain yet. President's final decisions for the transfer will be made tonight and then he, Elder Gabrielsen and I will call all the missionary companionships tonight to inform them of the transfer. You're spot on with the group breakdown, there's 4 Czech Elders, 1 Slovak Elder, 4 Czech Sisters, and 2 Slovak sisters. It'll be a fantastic group and I'm thrilled for them to arrive. One of my favorite responsibilities of being Assistant is getting to pick up and be with the new missionaries that first day.
3)  We will be registering you this coming week.  We sent you your schedule.  Does it look okay?  You can decide about art vs english after you get home.  We do however need to ask you about Isys.  Is your first preference to have it at 930 on Tuesday/Thursday or at 2 pm on Tues/Thurs?   It's with the same teacher either way and is the one Chris had and recommended. We will go for your first preference and leave the other as a backup. - The schedule looks fantastic, thanks again for all your work to help me out with it! I'd say for Isys to go for the 9:30 one first to keep my afternoons and evenings as open as possible. I never would have even considered taking an earlier class before my mission haha, but waking up at 6:30 for 2 years does have its effects haha.
4)  Any other changes to your schedule that you want?  We will register you this coming week!  Very exciting! - No other changes, that looks great to me. Thank you thank you thank you!
5)  Are the Irwins still planning on coming to the States for conference?  We would so love to meet them one day and thank them in person!! - Yes, they are still planning on coming. It'll be a blast for you to be able to meet them - you'll absolutely love them.
6)  How are your investigators doing?   We got your pictures plus some from sister Munro and a couple from the Martins when you were there in Brno for training. It looks like you had pizza! :)  We love these glimpses of your life.  You always look so happy, but then you are "our happy boy"! - Our newest member is doing great and the sisters continue to meet with her often to teach the new member lessons. Another investigator unfortunately had to cancel our meeting we had last Sunday but we're still in contact and hopefully he'll come to church. I'm glad you got the photos - Whenever a senior couple takes a picture with me in it, I always wonder how quick it'll be until that picture ends up in your email box haha. That's wonderful and I am so grateful for all the senior couples we have here in the mission. They are a light for the work here.
So this week we have set a high goal and are going for it full speed. We have been mindful of something that Elder Causse trained on when he was here a year ago - that when a companionship can teach 20 lessons a week, baptisms will double. So we decided to really go for it this week and we're totally going to achieve it. We are being so blessed in our efforts to find and teach new people in pursuit of achieving our worthy goals. Let me tell you about a couple miracles:

So after last week, where we literally didn't have hardly any time to teach investigators, we were both really praying for an opportunity to help someone at church. As we drove up to the chapel, I saw a middle-aged lady I'd never seen before walk into the building. So when we went inside, I looked around and saw her sitting alone in the chapel. I introduced myself and sat down and we began talking. She is amazing! She told me how this was here first time at one of our meetings and she decided to come and see what it was like. She has been searching for a true church since she was in her 20s and is so sensitive to the spirit. We set up a meeting for this last Tuesday and it was amazing. She has so many individual beliefs that coincide perfectly with the doctrines of the church and it was cool seeing those lightbulb moments for her. She agreed to another lesson this coming Tuesday and has already been reading the Book of Mormon. At the end of our lesson we knelt in prayer and she said her first prayer she's ever said out loud. The spirit was very strong and we are so excited to see her progress.

So after church on Sunday we had a lesson with one of the relatively recent converts we're working with, and afterwards went to visit a family from Nigeria to drop off a French Book of Mormon they requested. We didn't get to teach them, though, because the father was not home, so we continued on and spent some time finding. We walked around for a bit talking to a couple people and talked with this French girl  who is studying here for a semester. She didn't have interest in meeting but we wrote down the time of some activities, then she took a portrait photo of us for a photography project she's working on, and we parted ways. I'll return to this story later. As we tried to return to our car, we took an accidental (or so we thought) turn and met  a man who has been living in the Czech Republic for 20 something years. But he is amazing and it was such a tender mercy to teach him as he invited us into his office. We're returning tomorrow and are very excited. 

SO fast-forward to Monday evening. We had just finished some office work and went to cross the street to the building to go to the YSA family home evening dinner that the Curtis' host every week. We go to cross the street and who do we see walking up to the gate? Our recent contact and a friend. We walked into the building with them, so excited and shocked to see them actually here, and guess who just "happened" to be there at FHE? ... a French exchange student who is a member. Miracle! We brought him over and said "We have some French friends for you!" He was a little confused and stunned at first, but then he managed to get out "bonjour" and they were off. They had a wonderful experience and are coming for another lesson on Monday before FHE. It was a testimony builder for me to know that truly no effort is wasted.

So then, after FHE, we taught someone who is a real seeker of truth. We read from the Book of Mormon with him in Alma 32 and there were times that he read it and was about to comment on it but had nothing to say. He then said "well, it's true. That's it, I have nothing more to say. Full stop. Let's move on." How cool to see the spirit work with him at that moment. We're also meeting with him Monday.

Another miracle has to do with the branch choir. A recent convert's daughter, came at the end of church to choir and absolutely loved it. She talked with the choir director afterwards and promised her to come to church tomorrow for all 3 hours and to choir afterwards - something that she wouldn't do as an invitation from us. How cool to see the members doing missionary work. She is also going with all the YSA to an activity in Brno for Easter weekend, which will be a wonderful opportunity for her. I pray that she'll feel the spirit  and will continue to be willing to keep learning. The spirit's working with her for sure!

The last experience I want to share before I run out of time happened last Thursday. Plzen branch has moved into a new building and they were holding an open house for the members and public. President Irwin spoke with the branch president there, and arranged to have a missionary choir come to sing a series of short concerts throughout the open house night. So I got to return to Plzen! How cool it was to see that branch thriving in that beautiful new building! My first investigator on my mission turned member was there as well and is still super active in the church. It was cool, though, to see all the members and when we saw them, I saw a little light of recognition come on in their faces as they said "you were here before, weren't you?" Almost 2 years ago that was. Wow.

Čas letí křídly blesku, rodino!

I love you all so much and look forward to letting you know where I'll be next transfer sometime next week. My prayers and thoughts are ever with you. I love you so much, Marmee and Tata. I am so grateful for you and for all you have done and do for me. I am so blessed to have you as parents. 

Know that your favorite Starsi loves you all, as Heavenly Father and our Savior love us all, and I'm praying for you!

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

She Found the Place That Felt Like Home

March 16, 2013

 

 Wow, this week flew. It really was just a blink of an eye. How I loved getting your email, however, and I have lots to tell you today! It's very exciting. I love being here doing the Lord's work. 

What a week it sounds like! So much going on without me even knowing - it's crazy how time continues to pass all over the world! Sometimes I feel like time just stops while I'm here, but it certainly doesn't! I'm so glad to hear that everything worked out with the practice and most especially that Landon is OK. He's starting to learn from experience what is a good idea and what isn't haha. Bless his little heart. Give him a hug from his favorite missionary uncle when you can!

And wow, way to go Emmett on the apartment! Please thank him for being such an amazing friend - I am so looking forward to rooming with him this coming fall. It will be a blast. And wow, how cool to have more Czechs! You'll have to tell Emmett that he's definitely going to learn Czech with us all around - I'll teach him right from the very beginning! I saw Elder S at specialized training this last week and he mentioned that we might be rooming together, how happy I am to know that it's going through! Please let Emmett know how great Starsi S and O are - I really love and respect both of them and they'll be fantastic roommates. President Irwin commented to us this week how happy it makes him that Czech/Slovak missionaries stay close even after the mission, and what a fun time we'll have continuing to be missionaries in a different area. 

And Jenna, you are still in my prayers! Can't wait to see that beautiful little Mullen girl come into the world. 

So here are your answers for the week!

1.  We took George the toaster in to get an estimate on fixing the door.  We would like to get that done but they said that we will lose the trim decal stripe because they cannot match it.  We will try to find something similar but are you good with that?  We will need to get it fixed to sell it eventually anyway. - Yeah, that's fine! I didn't know something was wrong with the door, haha. But yes, a different stripe will liven George up for sure.
2.  Any suggestions for changes to your class schedule?  Or requests? - Thanks for your email, I got it and could open it great! The schedule looks fantastic, evenings free, no super early classes (although those wouldn't be a problem now haha). Great job! Thanks for all your hard work. Your plan with art and english sounds good, I'll decide that at a later moment. If there's any specific questions you want me to work out, please let me know.
3.  We are looking at the summer schedule for Dad's work.  We will be going to Gram's posterity reunion in Idaho the week of July 8th.  We are thinking of going to the Czech Republic the last week of July to the first week of August...so two questions...does that time frame sound good to you, knowing the country we are going to...AND would you rather go for 10 days or two weeks.  We just are not sure how much visiting /site seeing you will want to do.  We will follow your lead but need to kind of get an idea so Dad takes the time off. - Well, I'm not sure on this one. As far as the people I want to visit, 10 days would be plenty of time to visit them all. But there are quite a few things to see if you'd like to - I guess my verdict is that there would definitely be things to do for 2 weeks if we wanted to, but it's really up to you. I'm good either way (you know me haha), whatever would work better for the summer schedule.
4.  The most important...how are your investigators AND how did your week of traveling and teaching go...was it so good to see your missionaries? - OK, so here's a quick update on the week! It was fantastic to see the other missionaries - I love these specialized trainings. We traveled safely and without problems - Tuesday night we drove to Olomouc, Wednesday we drove to Zilina, Thursday to Brno, and Friday afternoon it was back to Praha. We were blessed to find another amazing  investigator. He said his first prayer with us and told us openly that he felt the Spirit, something he'd never felt before that he really liked. I know that the Lord answers prayers and that he had felt His love. 

The pictures are of my favorite experiences from the week. We had a lot of time on the road but this weekend was amazing. We had the privilege of being a Czech Elder's first companions and to see him off at the airport this morning. He is from Brno and will be serving a 2 year mission at the MTC . It was wonderful to see him feel the spirit of his calling - he said he could feel a difference in the car ride back from Brno to Praha. 

The other experience was the other pictures - this is  a 19-year-old golden ray of Indonesian sunshine! She referred herself to the sisters here in Prague and she loves the gospel. I got to know her over the past 2 weeks she's been here and she asked me to baptize her today. She is an amazing girl and is so excited to be a member. The spirit was so strong at her baptism and it was a beautiful service. She was so excited and is so sensitive to the spirit. One of our new members gave a talk at the baptism and it was just a wonderful moment for me. It's amazing to think that it's almost been a year since she was baptized. So much has happened in this year and yet it seems to have gone by so fast. Anyways, when we went down to the baptismal font, this sister was so excited and as we stood in the water she was overcome by the spirit and got emotional. The baptism went perfectly and afterwards we walked out of the font together and she just hugged the sisters and cried tears of joy and of the spirit. She is a really special young woman and will be an amazing member. I just know how much the gospel will change her life for the better forever. Afterwards she gave the most beautiful testimony, how grateful she is that she found the gospel and that it was restored. She had searched all over at many churches for the truth and bore testimony of how glad she was that she found the place that felt like home, that felt like family. It reminded me of your comment, Tata, when you visited Temple Square - you felt like you'd come home.

 

Isn't the gospel the best?

I love being here. I'm looking forward to this last week of the transfer. Pray for our new members and investigators especially this week. I love you all and am grateful for your love and prayers. You are ever in my prayers. 

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

 

 

Dear News Bringers of the Book of Mormon

 March 9, 2013

Wow, thanks for the great email!  I feel very informed on everything going on at the home front, and thankfully things are going good here abroad in the Czech Republic. I really do love this country - it is so beautiful and the experiences I'm having here make it even more beautiful. 

Thanks for all your  work and info on registration. I am so, so grateful that we made that curriculum plan together - it saves me a lot of headache out here. Thanks so much, Marmee and Christers, for all your work on that front. The classes you picked out look great, would that add up to about 13 credits or so with the Czech class? So I'd still need a credit or so in extras. President Irwin said that a lot of the returned missionaries from this mission take that class together, so that might be a fun one to put me in, with a back up class in case nobody else is taking it. Great idea and thanks for helping me out so much. Is it even possible to have a minor in Czech? Or is there at least some sort of certificate program at BYU to get some recognition for speaking Czech? It would be nice to just have some sort of standardized recognition to put on a resume instead of just subjectively putting "speaks Czech" haha. Anyways, thank you again for all of your help on this. It is such a blessing for me to not have to think about it all so much here and devote more time and mental energy to the work. And what a blessing to have Christers make some professor recommendations! The professors I have will make a big difference in my education - there's nothing quite like a really good teacher. How I respect them after teaching the gospel here. I'll get to the dance classes later, but thanks so much! Also be sure to thank Emmett for me - one more tender mercy! He's such a dear friend and I'm thrilled to room with him this upcoming year. Isn't the Avenues where Chris stayed? I can't remember exactly. But cool!

Jenna, you're in my prayers in the next few week! When I show the picture of all of us together EVERYONE thinks Landon is the cutest boy ever and then when I tell them that you're going to have a baby girl next month (I say "A ona bude mít holčičku!") they think it is the cutest thing ever. I hope and pray all goes well and you'll have to send me pics of my future favorite niece! 

Marmee, I got your letter yesterday about the YW activity you had and it sounded amazing. What a blessing you are to those girls. And it sound like Táta is just doing an amazing job with Gospel Doctrine. I have seen over and over again of the blessing a person can be to the members of the ward/branch when they magnify their callings. Thank you thank you thank you for that. You have to tell Bishop Sebesta that I want a calling that summer when we get back if possible!

How exciting for Peter! In all honesty it feels to me as if time has frozen at home while I've been here. When I imagine all these people I love so much at home, I see in my mind's eye the faces of nearly 2 years ago. It's incredible how time seems to fly and stay still simultaneously.

 So here are some answers to your questions this week!

1 - We will be on the road this week! It will be packed with training. On Tuesday night we're going to Olomouc to have a specialized training for Olomouc zone, then afterwards on Wednesday we drive to Zilina for Slovakia specialized training. After that it's back to Brno where we'll have specialized training on Friday. Afterwards we will be driving a Czech member back to Prague with us, where he will be set apart as a full time missionary! I got to know him well in Brno and he is a wonderful youth there. He will be serving a 2 year mission in the MTC! We're so excited for him. Of course President Irwin will be in all our travels with us, which we are excited for. It's always a blessing to be with him and Sister Irwin so much.

2 - When thinking about classes for next year...Hmm, not sure on this one...280 would be a lot of fun, so that might be my inclination. I got a letter from Kexin that she's looking for a Latin partner next year to compete open with, so it also might be fun to take 285 I think it is (Silver latin) - is there a possibility to sign up for both and drop one this summer when I have more time to think about it? By the way, on this note, please thank Kexin for her letters for me. She is such a good friend and I look forward to seeing her next year.

3 - So one of our investigators is leaving for his home country in about an hour from now. We had a short goodbye lesson with him this morning at his house and he is so amazing. He bought us a tie and some chocolate. I will pray for him so hard. Over these next 2 months I'm sure he's going to have a lot of opposition, but if he follows the spirit as he has so far he will be able to pursue his desires. So he will be back at the end of May to begin his long-term job here in Prague. Until then, we have his email address and we will pray for him.

Another investigator understands the Book of Mormon really well but wants some time to read more of it before meeting again, so we have a meeting set up for a week from Monday. This'll be time for the spirit to work with him, so we're hopeful! Yet another investigator said she'd come to church tomorrow! So that's exciting!

4 - So 3 spiritual experiences this week that I want to share specifically. The first happened on Monday. We went to an address a potential investigator gave us to meet with him and found out from a guy living there that he moved out of that apartment 6 years ago. So we were a bit sad and went around the corner to tract a bit. We rang a few of the buzzers and one let us in. We walked all the way up to the top and there was a guy speaking American english to us. He knew the missionaries it was obvious and after a bit of discussion we asked if he had a Book of Mormon. He said of course! So with that kind of answer we asked the next logical question taken from Elder Perry's conference talk - "Are you a Mormon?" He said "No - but my wife is." How amazing is that? They moved here from New York and his wife is a member. We talked for a bit and will try to set up a meeting with them in the coming weeks. It was such a testimony builder for me, though, that the Lord is mindful of each of us and leads us to those we can help if we're willing to listen to the spirit and be diligent.

The second happened when a lesson cancelled that we had planned in the building. We stood outside the gate waiting for him and contacted people as they walked past. We stopped this way cool girl and talked about how there is a living modern-day prophet. She was way interested and we walked into the building with her and gave her the first presidency message for March in Czech from President Monson. She gladly accepted it and asked if we could meet the following day. We had an amazing lesson with her and she is great! She'll be out of town for the next 3 weeks but said that before she met us she was pondering what book to take and read. She was happy that she found one, and so were we - she probably doesn't even know how much what she will read can change her life. But we're excited to meet with her when she returns.

The third miracle happened on an exchange. This last week I went on an exchange with Elder Knapp in Pardubice. We taught some great lessons and the whole day we had hardly any time for contacting on the streets - but we were constantly on the lookout for those who the Spirit told us we needed to talk to and we got 6 potential investigators! My favorite memory was a text that we received from one of the potential investigators we received who is a nurse. She sent (translated) "Dear news-bringers of the Book of Mormon - thank you for talking with me today. I have a smile on my face now in work. You fell straight from heaven. Thanks and have a good night. " - how cool is that? This truly is a work of miracles, both small and large.

My, I just blinked and realized it's already been another week. The time is going quicker and it's incredible. But I love it and I love you all. Thanks for all you do. I know that God lives and that this is His church and His work. 

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

(ps. dum dum!)

March 1, 2013

Hey there! So glad to hear all is going well. It is neuvěřitelný (unbelievable) that it is already March. February flew by in just another wonderful blink of an eye. It's incredible - I am loving my time that I have here as assistant and am looking forward to these upcoming weeks. This week we will have almost entirely in our area, which will be wonderful. Then the next 2 weeks after are specialized trainings and some other events, then it's transfer week. Crazy. 

Well I'm glad that my nephew is a baby genius. He sounds like he is a learning machine. How cute he is in all the photos you send! And man, is he getting big! I still show people the picture of us all together in New York when I introduce my family and I look at that little cute pudgy baby in those photos and then look at the most recent ones - my, how he's grown. To think that I'll be able to have a full conversation with that little guy - wow! I'm glad to hear Jenna's doing well and will pray that all will go smoothly with the delivery.

I'm also glad to hear Aunt Sue is doing fine and I hope that her hips won't hurt so much after she's all healed. Isn't family just the best?! That's what I realize more and more here on my mission, that true and lasting happiness is found in families and in the gospel. I love you, Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve!

Make sure to tell Darren hello and give him a big hug from me (I know you'll do a great big hug, Marmee haha!). How fun that he'll be joining us all at BYU in the fall - so many good times ahead of us.

So now I'll take some time to answer your questions of the week:

1.  Any sense on how many missionaries are coming in the next transfer? - Next transfer is a huge group! I know that there will be 6 sisters (4 Czech and 2 Slovak - yes, Slovak sisters!), and I'm pretty sure there will be 5 or so Elders. So yes, a big group like ours! It'll be exciting to have a large, fresh, faith-filled group of the Lord's missionaries arrive!
2.  Who besides Elder Coleman is scheduled to experience "The Big Transfer"? - Next transfer Elders Coleman, Engstrom, Plaizier, Stockdale, and Meredith will all have the big transfer. I'm excited for them to begin the next phase of their life after serving this phase so, so well. I remember starting my mission with Elder Stockdale, and of course so loved my 2 transfers with Elder Coleman. They will most definitely be missed here but will do so much good at home as well.
3.  Any needs or wants? - Nope, I'm quite content. Thanks, though!
4.  What have you learned from your study of the Atonement? - We studied how to simplify the doctrine so simply that an 8-year-old could understand it. It was very enlightening for me as I focused on the simplicity of the Atonement. There are so many complexities and so many unknowns about how it happened, but the beautiful simplicity is in WHY it happened and the effects of the fact that it DID happen. Just like electricity, I don't understand it perfectly, but I can use it's power. It's through the Atonement that Christ experienced and overcame the 2 barriers between us and eternal life with Heavenly Father - death and the consequences of sin. He paid the penalty that the law requires in our behalf so we don't have to, yet didn't remove our own personal responsibility. We must have faith in him to accept his sacrifice and repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure until the end of our lives. What relief that brings - complete freedom from the burden of guilt from mistakes. I love in Alma when it talks about his conversion story in Alma ch. 36, how he could still remember his mistakes (so he could learn from them), but could "remember [his] pains no more." I love that aspect of the Atonement - that we don't need to let the pains burden us all the rest of our lives. What a wonderful hope the Atonement gives us!
5. Share with us your favorite spiritual experience of the week... - Let's see - one of my favorite was with an investigator. We taught him 2 times this week and they were incredible lessons. He has such strong faith in Jesus Christ already and a great knowledge of the scriptures. He told us that he knows that Joseph Smith was truly called as a prophet and that if he continues to feel that what we teach is true he will definitely be baptized again. He understands the importance of priesthood authority and what it means to be baptized by someone holding that authority. In our lesson on the restoration of the priesthood authority I did something I don't usually do and showed him my Priesthood Line of Authority that you made for me, Tata. You know, the little laminated one? The spirit was really strong when we testified of the importance of that authority. He definitely has some trials ahead, but he knows what the spirit feels like and wants to follow its promptings. Please pray for him, as he will be returning to his home country for a couple months at the end of next week. It'll be hard for him to stay strong without contact with us for so long, but he promised to read the entire Book of Mormon. So please pray for him! 

Another quick experience - this week we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders in Brno and Elder Gleue came here to Praha with me! We had a couple lessons fall through so we went finding and found some amazing people! The most memorable was a young student. He is Czech but speaks English with the most convincing English accent I've ever heard. He is really bright and his expectations for meeting is to learn more about our church and what makes us different. He understands the spirit really well and we had a fantastic first lesson with him on Thursday. Also please pray for him to stay solid.

There have been many other miracles I don't have time to write about in detail  I love being here and hope this just gives you an idea of how much the Lord is blessing us all in this work.
6.  Bring us up to date on your investigators. - Well, kind of included this one in the above question.

I love you all so much. A lady the office elders were teaching got baptized this morning and it was a beautiful service. Afterward, on our way back to the office, we took a long way around and talked to an amazing young man. He has had a hard life so far but has done an amazing job of overcoming them; he said that he knows that he has learned a lot from the challenges, but doesn't exactly understand why they happened to him. We promised him that the gospel of Jesus Christ has answers he's looking for and we are going to his house to visit him next week on Wednesday. I know that the Lord leads us to those who are looking and who need it and are ready for it.

Love you bunches and look forward to hearing from you all in a blink of an eye!

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

 Joseph with a friend at a District Conference.

 

OK, so here's a fun thing from the last weeks - Elder Gabrielsen and I had gone through the center looking for something to put in my future home like you suggested for my birthday. We were walking through and found an art gallery with some great original oil paintings of parts of Praha. The artist of those paintings just happened to be the one running the gallery and at the suggestion from Elder Burton who was with us I asked if he could, let's say, customize it a little for me. So he did! He added two missionaries to the street scene. Pretty cool, huh? His name is Armen and studied art in the art academy in Olomouc. So happy birthday to me! What would you like me to do with it? Should I send it home in bubble wrap or keep it and try to take it home by hand? Hope you approve and like it!