Štasny Rok

Hello family! 

It was soo good to see you the other day. I sure am grateful for technology and all the geniuses out there who create things like skype. Christmas day came and went real fast. It was so warm that day too. The sun was shining and it felt like it was the middle of April. It didn't even feel like Christmas. Ha until a couple days ago when it finally snowed and turned to -4.3 degrees C which is like -teens in F I think. 

The day after Christmas they have what is called "Boxing Day" It is a legit holiday where everyone stays inside and they box up all of their christmas decorations or so we assume. On this holiday President advised us to hit the streets and sing some carols and contact the few souls that are roaming the streets. It was freeeezzzingg. We sang mostly to the pigeons and the few czechs that braved the cold weather with us. ha ha It was fun though. We were able to plant a few seeds in those we did talk with. 

On sunday one of our Recent converets named Lukas showed up to church and stayed all three hours. This was a christmas miracle. The sisters met with him about twice a week last transfer and he would always say he would come to church but then would always come up with an excuse for his absence. We called him Saturday night but he didn't answer so we weren't really expecting him to show up, but then there he was! We visited him after church and he told us how he sees a difference when he comes and when he doesn't. His friend Martin is back from America and they live next to each other. So we are hoping that Martin being back will help get Lukas to church each week andd also help him work towards getting the Melchezidek Priesthood. 

Our investigator Pavel Jelenek will be getting baptized this coming Saturday! We had a really good lesson with him last night with a couple of members in the branch. They were able to share experiences of how the Gospel has helped shape their lives and how it's not about being perfect before baptism or even after baptism. It was an awesome lesson and I think it helped Pavel ease his nerves. 

Well that's it for now! Have a great week! 

Love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do for me! 

Sestra Fred

Christmas is Here

Ahoj Ahoj Ahoj!

So we had Christmas training yesterday and that is why I didn't write. Sorry that I didn't inform you of that last week! Training was great. We talked about some of the Traditions here in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Sister Smith is one of the Sister-Training Leaders and she was in charge of presenting one of the traditions. So the one that we did was called lodicek aka boats. So what you do is you crack the walnut, clean it out and then we took little circle candles and carved them down into smaller circles so that they fit nice and snug into the shell of the walnut. Then you light the candle and stick the walnut "lodicek" into the water with the others. Depending on how the different boats react to one another is what your fortune for the next year will be. For example, if you're boat touches another boat you will have the fortune of having good friends. Another one is whichever boat's candle stays on the longest will have a long and useful life. There are some less fortunate fortunes as well that we will save for another day. haha

I came to UH at an exciting time. They had been preparing for their Christmas concert and they take it real serious. They have an AWESOME choir here though! Dad you would love singing with them. :) Elder Earle, our district leader and I were the new missionaries that came into the area this transfer and when we went to our first practice with them last thursday the choir director, Sister Kresnickova, who says it how it is kicked Elder Earle out of the Choir because he can't sing that great. ha ha I'm not sure how I made the cut, but I did and I had to privelage of singing with them on Sunday. Every year they have this Christmas Koncert in a concert hall and the place was filled! Every seat in the house was filled. President McConkie came and played a piece on the violin while one of the sisters from the ward played on the piano. It was beautiful.

As for Christmas, we will be going to the hospital to visit with some of the sick there and then we'll be skyping from the church. My hour starts at 5:00 my time. Soo 9:00 your time. Thanks for sending the skype information. I am so excited to see all of your faces! I hope that you have had the chance to watch "He is the Gift" We have been sharing that with anyone and everyone. I'm so grateful for the Christmas season and for the true meaning behind Christmas which is our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope that all of you find joy in Him! 

Love you so much. and I'll see you soon! 

Sestra Fredrickson

Úherské Hradiště

Ahoj ahoj ahoj!

So we had transfers this week and... I have been sent to a new home! I am now in a town called Úherske Hradiště. I have only been here for a few hours, but by the looks of it and what my new companion Sister Smith has told me it is a quaint little town with only 20,000 people. So smaller then goold old Springville. UH is on the East side of the Czech Republic. It is as close as you can get to Slovakia. Sister Smith is from Logan, Utah and has been in the country for a year now. She is so smiley and fun. She reminds me a lotttt of Sister Marchbanks.This is God's gift to me for his joke that he played on me back in the MTC when he decided to not send me to Washington to serve. ;) It was hard to say goodbye to C-Bud, especially the Mestanovi family. That family has my heart. It is exciting though because Sister Scerra will be follow up training Sister Holland, my companion from the MTC. The work is hastening there so much, and I am looking forward to hearing about all the progress they make together.  But I am looking forward to the new adventures here in UH!

Jana and Lucinka's baptism was perfect. They were confirmed on Sunday and Jana Cried. Our goal for their family is to get Jirka the dad and the son Daniel baptized this coming transfer so they can all go to the temple in the spring with the Branch!

As for the Christmas skype call! We will be calling at 5:00 P.M. our time. So that will be what? Like... 9 in the morning your time. So please send me the skype name next week so I can have that to call you with! YAY! I am looking forward to itttt! 

Okay, so Sister Scerra and I attempted to make the "best white bread in the world" We baked it for our final dinner with the district and I was so proud of it because It look and smelled so good. But when we went to cut into it, it was completely raw and hadn't cooked all the way through. hahahah Soooo that's that. I might need to wait to perfect the bread making skills until I get home. It was a good attempt though! 

Be sure to watch "He is the Gift". Soo amazing! Remember Christ this Christmas season. 

Until next week!

Love you oodles!

Sestra Fredrickson

Blessings Continue to Rain Down

Hello my sweet family!

I sure have a lot to update you all on due to my lack of writing last week! haha so here it goes...

So first off we had our Christmas concert last sunday which was great. We had a really good turn out and it was fun getting into the Christmas spirit. For Thanksgiving we had a usual proselyting day and then celebrated last monday with the Elders and the senior couple in our district. Sister Scerra and I made some real tastey mashed potatoes and homemade pumpkin soup, which is one of Sister Scerra's family traditions. We had a great meal together and talked about some of the family traditions that we have. I bragged about Grandma Inez's rolls for days!

While JAKIE was being baptized this past Saturday so was our sweet Vasyl! I was thinking about Jake the whole day. I am so proud of you!  Our Ukrainian teenager got baptized in Prague on saturday and then was confirmed in our little branch on Sunday. Ivan who did all the translating for us over skype was the one who baptized and confirmed him. They are like brothers now. haha they are really fun to watch interact with eachother. Vasyl has such an incredible conversion story. From the time that he started meeting with us back in the beginning of October to now he hasn't missed a week of church, and he only missed ONE lesson. Keep in mind that this kid can speak little to no Czech. I have gained a stronger testimony of the power of the spirit in this work. It really is the Holy Ghost who does the converting, not us. Yesterday was special in the sense that we had Vasyl's confirmation as well as fast and testimony meeting. We had a lot of miracles in that meeting. Jana the mother of our recent convert Romana and who will be baptized this Wednesday got up and bore her testimony ALL ON HER OWN! She went on up to the pulpit and owned it! She gave the most beautiful testimony of how she knows that God lives and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and how the Gospel has helped her find peace in her life. The best part was when she sat back down Romana embraced her with open arms and gave her big hug. It has been so amazing to watch how their relationship as Mother and daughter has evolved from one that was really rough around the edges to one that has smoothed out. They are the best and we are so excited for Jana and Lucinka to be baptized on Wednesday. Keep them in your prayers! Another miracle was Ivan, who has been a member since April ish bore his testimony for the first time and IN CZECH. and Czech isn't even his first language or second for that matter and he did it perfectly! It was pretty awesome a sucessful sabbath day it was.

Well, it is the last week of transfers. I can't believe that I have already been here for 2 months. It sure has gone by super fast. Czech's don't mess around and started setting up for Christmas long before thanksgiving because they don't celebrate it here. The Namesti is decked out with a big tree and lots of little "Elf workshops" They also have ponies and a Carosel which reminded me of Jade and the Crowley boys. I got my Christmas package a couple weeks ago! Thank you thank you thank you! I am excited to see what surprises Santa has for me this year. Next week I will be able to let you know when we will be skyping. We just have to wait for transfers to see whether or not I will be staying in C-Bud or if I will be going somewhere else! 

I want to thank all of you for you love and support and espeically your prayers and letters and emails. I know that I am not the best at responding, but know just know that I am seeing them and appreciate them!

Also, Shout out to Mason Michael! I hope you had the best birthday little buddy. #5 right?? Can't believe you are all grown up! Keep being good for mommy and daddy!

Love you love you love you.

Ta ta for now!

Sestra Fredrickson

December is Here!

Wow can you believe that it is already December? Because I cannot!

We had a bit of a wild week.

So Jana Mestanova, Romana's mother, had a bit of a freak out and decided that she didn't want to be baptized anymore and that we weren't invited to the home anymore as well. 

We were a bit concerned, but due to Jana's track record she tends to flip flop so we weren't totally surprised when by the middle of the week we were back over at their home teaching them and they also participated and performed in our Christmas koncert that we had yesterday. hah 

Jana played the guitar while Romana and her brother Daniel sang. It was awesome! 

So, Jana is back on date with Lucinka the granddaughter. 

Daniel won't be getting baptized yet because he joined a band so he is never home to hear the lessons. ha 

We will get him eventually. 

Romana is doing awesome. Her character has changed from night and day. 

You are going to hate me, but we are having Thanksgiving dinner today and we got cut short on email time. 

All is well! 

Sorry for the horrible email. 

I will try to shoot one off later today! 

Sestra Fred