18 DAYS AND COUNTING

Ahoy, ahoy, ahoy!

I leave in 18 days. EIGHTEEN DAYS!!!! It is an incredible feeling. I am SO stoked, and so nervous at the same time. Today we got an email from one of the Sisters that works in the mission office that was information about what our first couple of days will be like when we get there and don't worry, the first day we get to take a walk around Prague and go into the "Old Town" and have dinner with President McConkie and his wife/family and the Slovak missionaries. Haha be jealous. ;)

This past week was pretty jammed packed with some super awesome things. 

Jeden: I forgot to mention this last week, but when I was sick the Starší in my district gave me a priesthood blessing. It was a really neat and special experience for me. I am so grateful for the priesthood and for the power that is in it. They also gave one to Sestra Holland this past week. Our Starší are the best. 

Dva: The Ogden temple dedication was sooo cool. I hope all of you got to watch it. We sat at the very back/top of the auditorium which was so prime. Watching all of the missionaries wave their white handkerchiefs while saying the Hosanna shout is something that I will never forget. I loved the words that were spoken by the prophet, "Love the temple. Appreciate the temple. Attend the temple." And I don't know if any of you caught it, but.. us Czech/Slovak missionaries totally got a shout out from President Monson himself when he mentioned Olega and Jiri who are from the Czech Republic and had a great appreciation for the temple. No big deal. Ha it was awesome though, all of us did a little gasp when he said that. 

Tři: We got to hear from ANOTHER APOSTLE! Two weeks in a row! Can you believe that?! We are so lucky. I am totally convinced that I chose the perfect time to serve because by the time I leave I will have gotten to experience 2 devotionals where apostles spoke, a temple dedication, and General Conference all in the MTC. Wow, it is great and I love it! 

Anywayyy, we got to hear from M. Russell Ballard this week. He is such a stud. He talked a lot about setting goals. He said, "Life is a process of setting goals. Make it a point to set a wise, sensible, attainable goal as needed hourly, minutely, and secondly." How awesome is that? 

čtyří: I have officially memorized "My Purpose" and the First Vision in Czech. I learned the First Vision in a little less than a week. It was quite the feat for me. haha I can testify to you that if you really put your mind to something or anything and have the determination and desire to get it done, YOU CAN DO IT. I also discovered my favoriteCzech word. It is švagrova. It means sister-in-law, which is totally serendipitous because I have the BEST švagrovy in the world and I will get to use it all the time when I am talking about my family to people in Czech! hahahah it really is the funnest word to say. Go look it up on google translate and try it out for yourself. 

Pět: The new Croatian/Slovenian/Bulgarians arrived yesterday! They are all so cute and frazzled. Haha I remember being like that my first couple weeks. Oh how great it is to be considered "the old ones" now. Watching the last Croatians and Slovenians leave on Monday kind of put into perspective for us that the day will come when we will actually get/have to leave the MTC. Haha most days I just feel like I am at like a spiritual EFY camp and I'll come home when I'm done here. Too funny. 

šest: One of our teachers, Bratr Thompson, is leaving us today. :( He got offered a full-time position at his other job and his time here was almost up anyway so he is moving onto the next chapter of his life. Last night we had our last lesson with our investigator Honza who Bratr Thompson acted as and it was so so sad. When we finished our lesson on having desire and determination to gain a testimony of the gospel he promised us he would put in the work he needs to to come unto Christ and he then he says, looking down at the ground, "Ja jsem šmutný" which means I am sad. He didn't want to "move" as much as we didn't want him to. It was the saddest thing ever. I do not like goodbyes! Love Honza. Love Bratr Thompson. We all got him some funny going away cards that I'm sure he'll get a kick out of. 

I got the Bubba/Luann and Angela package! I also got one from Susie Smith this week. You are all saints. Thank you SO much for sending those things to me! 

I am so grateful for ALL of you! You are in my prayers daily! 

I am so thankful for this Gospel, and for the opportunity I have to share it with the world. I know my savior lives!

Have a fantasticcc week!!! 

Láska Vzdý,

Sestra Fred

P.s. I get to hear your voices in 2 1/2 weeks!!!!! :)

P.p.s. Take lots of pictures of Boo boo this weekend!! Her first High school dance... Dad. How has this happened??? She is not old enough!

P.p.p.s. The Fredrickson and Crowley houses are coming along nicely aren't they!? Can't wait to see them be finished!! 

P.p.p.p.s. Tell "THE MIND" congrats on tying the knot! Carly Ann, You looked STUNNING in the pic dad sent me! 

P.p.p.p.p.s. Miss you my family! Love you oodles.

 ​Our last night with the Croatian/Slovenian Sisters. Sestra Vukuopera's double fist pump says it all. hahah love these Sestry!

​We are all wearing Sestra Clark's skirts. haha she is always so good share her clothes with us.

Temple walk in the rain with Sestra Holland. 

We found Elder Niu - MTC Temple walk. 

Week 5 - SMRT Tyden

Hiiiiiiii familyyyy! 

Sounds like there has been a lot of hustle and bustle going on this past week. I am sooo thankful to hear that Whitney and the baby are okay. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father who is taking care of all of you while I am away. He truly is so kind and merciful to all of us and blesses us beyond measure. It's been a bit of a rough week for me and my district. I titled this email "Smrt Tyden" because it kind of really has been a "Death Week" for us. I along with one of the Elders caught the nasty plague that's been going around here. Achy body, pounding headaches, and I have easily gone through 3 boxes of tissues all by myself. Ha ha. Fortunately, I am feeling MUCH, much better now! But, my poor companion and one of my teachers caught the plague from me I think.. Such a sad state of affairs. Hopefully we can all get better soon! 

Other than being sick, it was a wonderful week. We had a pretty neat experienceTuesday night at our devotional. We were graced with the presence of Elder Richard G. Scott. I can't even begin to describe to you the feeling in the room as he entered the room Tuesday night. I was nearly 20 feet away from an apostle, AN APOSTLE. He spoke to us missionaries about prayer and what was cool was that it was broadcast to ALL of the MTC's around the world. So sick. He opened his talk with, "Don't just serve your mission, have a BLAST." Haha he is seriously the best. He had a lot of good insights on prayer. Some of the things that stuck out to me were it's so important for us to ask in faith AND confidence and then PROCEED with confidence. Another thing that was so huge to me is that Heavenly Father will answer us in our own individual ways to help us meet our own individual challenges in they way He thinks best. Sometimes we aren't always going to get the answer WE want or think is best for us, but Heavenly Father knows. He knows us better than anyone on Earth does. When you pray, make sure you are asking the right questions. Strive to align your will with His -- His is alwaysbetter! 

Prayer is such a gift. Take advantage of it! Take time to really talk, and laugh, and weep with Heavenly Father. He wants to do all of those things with you! 

I have three and a half more weeks here at the MTC. Woof. The time ticking! 

Have a great week! I miss and love you all! 

Láska Vždy,

Sestra Fred

 ​Most of our zone. Oh how nice it is to feel the sand between our toes! 

 ​We celebrated our 1 month anniversary with some delicious muffins that Sarsi Cook's mom sent to us. Happy 1 month to us!

 ​Best people. I am beyond blessed to have them.  

​A little laundry lovin'

This picture was sent to Leon by a lady named Connie who gives shots at the MTC.

Her cousin's grand daughter is at the MTC and goes to see her each week.  Jenn and her companion went with her this week and Connie sent this picture over. 

HALFWAY THERE!

Uhmmmmm Hellloooooo family! 

First off, it is September 11, so lets start by taking a moment and remember those who were lost on 9/11/2001. I've been thinking about Tyler and Whitney all day and their trip out there to see the memorial. I bet it is neat for them to look back on their experience there. 

Okay! Soooooooo. We have officially hit my halfway mark of the MTC! YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY!  Seriously though. I can not believe it has already been a month. Like, what the? I am starting to stress because I only have short 4 1/2 more weeks to go to perfect my Ceksy! Yikes. hah. Continue to pray for us to have the gift of tongues! We celebrated our Halfway mark by sharing a cinnamon roll together at the temple this morning after our session. hahah it was cute. Love my Sestry. 

This past week Sestra Holland and I had a few rough lessons with our investigators. Martin always falls asleep on us (he is constantly yawning) and Honza is just a tough nut. You really have to crack him to get in to open up and share things. So, we thought that maybe to spice up our lessons a little bit and make them more lively we would try an object lesson. We were teaching Honza about the Plan of Salvation and the importance of needing to come to Earth to receive a body, tak, we decided it would be a good idea to throw in a little head, shoulders, knees and toes. Ohhhhh how well it did NOT go. hahahaha after we did it I had my first language slip up and said something completely off topic and Sestra holland just LOST IT. She could notttt stop laughing. I tried to keep my composure but you all know how well I can stifle back a laugh. hahah anyways, the moral of the story is, head shoulder knees and toes is not so effective in bringing the spirit into the room/lesson. YOU CAN NOT TEACH WITHOUT THE SPIRIT. We learned that the hard way on Monday. The last couple days we have really been focusing on being more prepared and APPLYING what we are teaching TO our investigator and to teach our investigator NOT the lesson. We had a lesson with both Martin and Honza yesterday and they went SOOOOO much better. I know it is because we were better prepared and we listened to the Holy Ghost throughout the lesson to give us direction as to what to say that Martin and Honza needed to hear. Teaching by the spirit is SOcrucial. The spirit is what is going to convert you and I and everyone in the world who learns about the gospel. 

We had a member of the seventy come on Tuesday and speak to us. His name is Brother Satati. Total stud. Both him and his cute wife had some really awesome things to say.

Sister Satati's counsel was to REMEMBER. Remember who you are, to listen carefully, to say I'm sorry. Remember all the promises the Lord has given us if we do what He asks. Remember to be grateful, to have a kind regard. Loved that. We need to always remember all of those things! She also talked about "Staying out of Dark Alleys." We all have our dark alley's that we find ourselves in at one point or another. As weremember and be faithful in keeping our covenants, the commandments and being obedient to do the little things like reading our scriptures, going to church, praying we can keep ourselves from entering those dark alleys. 

Brother Satati's thoughts were that the restored gospel is the best gift that any of us have ever or will ever receive in this life--there is NO greater hope offered to man than the restored gospel. There truly isn't! Don't take it for granted for not even one second. He also emphasized keeping and honoring your covenants with God. "We will leave spiritual footprints wherever we may walk when we keep our covenants." 

Whoops! sorry didn't mean to press send! Ha! Anyway, Love that last quote by Brother Satati. Great devotional.

Uhmmm I am trying to think of anything funny that has happened this last week.... All the days just blur together. haha

My knees pop everytime we kneel down to pray together as a class.  Bratr Knapp told me I'm going to need a knee replacement at the age of 22 when I get home from my mission. hah. One of the TRC corridinators came by last night to give us our times for our lessons and as he left Sestra Holland yelled out "SMRT" to say "goodbye" to him, but Smrt actually means death. hahahah she doesn't enjoy TRC much. Sestra Clark and have been ballin' with some of the Croatian Elders in our zone during gym time. Man, I forgot how much I love basketball. So fun! 

Alrighty well, that is all for now! I am beyond happy to be serving as a missionary. What a blessing it is to be apart of Heavenly Father's army! 

Have a Skevele week! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Láska Vzdy,

Sestra Fredrickson

 These two are from the Ville! Sister Patten and Elder Averett.

 Love my Sestra H.

Sestra Holland and I with the Croatian Elders and the Poland sisters 

Tyden Tri :)

Ahoy, Ahoy, Ahoy můj rodinu!

Ohhhh my my my, what a week! So many things I have to say this week! I think it would be appropriate to start off my email with the day of September 3, 2014. 

Yesterday was hands down THE best day EVER. I received not one, not even two, but THREE PACKAGES yesterday!!! hahahahah I got one from Pam Tuft Tuesday night but didn't get it till yesterday after lunch. She is a saint. Please tell you THANK YOU for me! When we got back to the classroom Starši Cook brought me ANOTHER package slip. I was SO excited! hah Sestra Holland and I ran back to the Mail room to pick it up and it was my blanket. Ahhhh it turned out SO good!!! Tell Carrie thank you for me as well!! and the Coconut cashews are a hit with Sestra Holland. She loves them. When we got back from dinner I had yet ANOTHER package slip! I bet you could only imagine what my reaction was to a third package slip. It was like Christmas day but a million times better. HA! The third package was from Angela Marie. She came through with some "Tastey" doughnuts. They never tasted sooooo good. We devoured them all last night. No judging. hahah Thank you Angie!!! So there's the best day ever for you. It was obviously the highlight of my week. Way to go Pam, Mom/Carrie, and Ang for being on the same page and being my mail angels. :)\

Alright so! This past week has been so awesome. Here are some of the funnies first!

We discovered the "cream soda tree." There is a tree just outside our building that smells just like cream soda. Not even lying. haha I wonder if Clarkie or T.Fred ever discovered that while here. 

Sestra Holland and Sestra Clark know EVERY episode of sponge bob by heart. and you better believe they quote it daily. Ha. It's actually pretty funny. 

During Companionship study on Monday, Sestra Holland and I were outside on some benches where there were some cheeto crumbs around our feet. This little birdy came up and started to eat the cheetos and he totally got a cheeto mustache. HAHAHAH it was quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen here at the MTC, maybe even ever in my entire life. The funniest part was the little bird would "sneak" up and grab a cheeto, run away because he thought we were going to get him, and then come back for more. hahhaha oh man, it was hilarious. Who knew a bird could be so entertaining.

During our "5 minute breaks" from class our teachers always have to come out into the hall and herd us back into the classroom. Brother Mullen started saying the phrase, "Ja jsem dobrz pastýř" as he comes out to get us. The phrase means, "I am the good shepherd." hahah He's our most serious teacher, so when he says little comments like that it's pretty funny. 

We learned Cases this week in Czech... Oh man they are something else! I am starting to really begin to know what clarkie went through with Russian. Brother Knapp began teaching us cases on Saturday... when he left and shut the door behind him, Sestra Holland says, "B. Knapp just pooped on our heads and left." HAHA. it was hilarious. Cases are going to be a doozy, but we will get them! :)

We made a new Czech friend here at the MTC! His name is Elder žaharek. He is serving his mission here at the MTC. He is a convert to the church and is the sweetest Elder ever. He sits with us at meals sometimes so we get to talk to him about Czech and what to expect. He will be returning back to Czech while we are there so we are hoping that we will get to run into him at some point during our missions!

Mmmmkayy now for the more spiritual parts of the week.

One thing Sestra Holland and I have begun doing before companionship study is singing Hymns in Czech, mostly just "There is a Green Hill Far Away" I love singing with her especially in Czech. It is one of my most favorite things to do.

The Devotional on Sunday was all about keeping a study journal and the great importance of doing so. It is important because, whatever we take the time to write down, Heavenly Father knows is important to us. It is also a tool in helping us to recognize and understand how the Lord speaks to us. As missionaries that is something that we definitely need to master. I am focusing on writing things down more from what the spirit teaches me than what I read from paper or hear during devotionals.

The Tuesday devotional was incredible. It was focused on some of the realistic things that we as missionaries can do and take control of when we get out into the field. One of the things Elder Clarke touched on was that, "Any convert worth baptizing, is worth saving." Following this statement, he asked everyone in the congregation that had a family member or friend inactive in the church to stand. I was completely SHOCKEDwhen EVERY single person in the huge room stood up. Every single missionary in the room. When I thought of missionary work before coming to the MTC I only ever really thought of the work revolving around baptisms. After Tuesday night, I realized how important it is to contact those less-actives. Their souls are just as important to save as those who have yet to be baptized. I know there is someone you all know at home that needs to hear and be reminded of the good news of the gospel. Don't give up on the lost sheep! They need our desperately need our love, and Heavenly Fathers! 

One last thought.... Our branch president shared this with us on Sunday in Sacrament... It really caused me to reflect on who I am and what I am becoming. He asked us, "How will Heavenly Father introduce you?"

Keep striving to be the best the best you you can be! 

Love you my family! Until next week! 

Sestra Fred :)

 We loved the doughnuts!!

 I LOVE MY BLANKET.