Beauty All Around

Ahoj ahoj ahoj!

Wow, can I just say that I am theeee absolute most LUCKIEST missionary in the entire world! I have not even hit my month mark yet and I have gotten to be a part of so many amazing things, including a baptism. We had Romana Mestanova's baptism this pastSaturday. There was quite a bit of holding our breath until Saturday though. Romana had the addiction of smoking and in order for her to make her baptismal date she had no "whoops days" to work with. So we were over there every day checking up on her and we had to lay down the law for her family and ask them to not smoke in the house and around Romana. We even took away all of their cigarettes and ashtrays. ha ha. Sister Scerra and I don't mess around. We had a scare Thursday night with Romana... She had gone to take her little girl to the doctor and when we went for our appointment she wasn't there. Jana Romana's mother, was highly concerned and was convinced that Romana hadn't come home because she had gone to smoke or drink. So, Sister Scerra and I treked alllll over C-Bud to find Romana. We checked the Doctor, places that she use to go drink at and we couldn't find her ANYHWERE. After searching and praying, we finally got a phone call from her. She had gone to visit some family in a place called the Mijes so all was well. But while she was there, she was offered coffee, alcohol anddd cigarettes but she didn't accept any of it! She is solid! 

To say the least, it was quite the week. There was a lot of opposition in preparing Romana for her baptism, but she made it and the smile on her face after she came up out of the water was priceless. Afterward she said her heart was beating so fast, and had me feel it. Ha she is just incredible. She is an example to me of courage, diligence, and just pure faith. We are hoping that her family will follow her example and choose to accept the gospel as well.

Our Ukrainian gator is on date to be baptized in two weeks so if things go well we will be having another baptism! Keep him and our other investigators in your prayers for us!

Here are some fun little facts about our life here in C-Bud. 

We have about a 20 minute walk to the church building. Mom we walk along cobble stones the entire way. :)

We jog in a park almost every morning along the river and it is beautiful. Big tall trees with orange leaves. It's great. Everyday I am in awe of the beauty here. It has even warmed up a bit too which has been so nice! 

I have clipped my toe nails all by myself TWO TIMES now. Dad you should be so proud of me. hahahah

Grocery shopping is a trip. First you have to buy your own grocery sacks and then you have to bag all your groceries yourself. It is a race to the finish line every time. It can be quite stressful sometimes! haha usually I just put everything back into the basket and go over to the side table they have to pack up all the goods. They don't have any chocolate chips or marshmallows here. 

Mommy tell LuAnn that I wear her coat EVERY DAY! I love that thing. It has been such a blessing to have. The pockets are perfect. They are big so I can carry my slovnik and other items around that I need easy access to. It's great. ha 

Okay, so one night this past week we were walking out to the Namesti to find the Zmolkovi who were going to give us a ride home and there was a car that looked very similar to theirs so we went to hop in and when we opened the doors it was definitely not the Zmolkovi. hahahahaa Sister Scerra was just like uhhh.... Pardon and then left. haha It was hysterical.  Don't worry though, we did eventually find the Zmolkovi at the other end of the road. ha! 

We have an English conversation class that we teach that I really enjoy! Clarkie I know you taught some English on your mission and we need some topic ideas!

Something that I am really trying to work on is following the promptings of the spirit. While contacting this past week, I had a feeling to talk to this woman but kind of ignored it and passed her. I had the feeling again and said to S. Scerra I think we should talk to that lady. So we turned around and tracked her down and although she didn't have any interest in what we had to say I still followed the prompting. Something that I am learning is that sometimes the promptings we get to do things aren't going to produce extravagant results every time. It is a test that Heavenly Father is giving us to act on our faith to follow the promptings even when they don't result in anything. As we practice doing so, we will be ready to act when Heavenly Father really needs us to. I think that when we are practicing and learning how to follow the spirit we are also builiding our trust with Heavenly Father.

I love you my family. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. I feel them throughout the week and they help me to keep pushing forward! I hope that you all have a great week. Jake's Baptism is happening soon I would imagine! Ahhhh I am sooo excited for him!! Love you Jake!

That is all for now! Dokud pristi tyden. :)

Láska Vždy,

Sestra Fred 

Quote of the week:

"God loves you because of who God IS. Not because of anything you did or didn't do. 

Dinner at the Elders'

October Zone Training