Monday, January 5, 2015

Štastný Nový Rok

Happy happy new year family!

We had an exciting New Year here in Uherske Hradiste! New Years Eve we had district meeting and dinner together with the Elders in Zlin which is about 30 minutes away. After our feast we drove back home and watched The Best Two Years and ate some Hoggendaus ice cream and popcorn. Haha it was a lot of fun. It was fun to watch that movie as missionary. We were laughing at the various white handbook rules that were being broken. For example, teaching investigators at your apartment or using headphones to listen to music that isn't allowed. Ha it was a struggle for us to stay up till midnight but we did it and we got to enjoy some fireworks from our back windows. :) I was surprised by how many fireworks there were. Czech's know how to do it right! 

So we had Pavel's baptism on Saturday and it went great. We had almost the entire branch there for support. It was awesome! We had it at a hotel sauna room. Lights were dimmed and candles were lit when we first got there. ha ha it was something else. We were joking about how that was probably them most colt thing we have ever done. You can imagine what it looked like to people on the outside-- a group of people gathered in a small room giving speeches and singing praises to God. Ha! All is well though. 

Pavel made a comment at his baptism right after he came up out of the water. He said to Elder Vennard (the elder who baptized him) "That's it?" Elder Vennard gave a small chuckle and said, yep that's it. From this comment I was reminded of the simplicity of the Gospel. As missionaries we stress Baptism a lot and make it big deal, not saying that it isn't, but at the end of the day going to a pool and being put under water for nearly a second may seem silly and so simple. But I believe that that's the point. I think that Heavenly Father wants us to have more "that's it" experiences. It's in those moments where we see living the Gospel and doing what he asks of us is that simple. 

I hope that you all had a great New Years! I imagine that you were all prolly in bed early. ;) 
Love you all! Thank you for all the love and support. I pray that you will see God's hand in your life this week. <3

love always,
Sestra Fredrickson

Pavel's Baptism