Saturday, June 18, 2016

An Evie Exchange

Howdy!

After a week of rain we are finally enjoying some sunshine here in the Prague estates. 

SHOUTOUTS:
Sooo happy to see that you, my family, received the treasure boxes from Prague. 
I was so excited for you to have them.. :)
Jadey Bug... Pink Voodoo doll coming right up for you my sweet niece!

PRAGUE PŘEKVAPÁNÍ--MLADÁ BOLESLAV:
---> Our panalok (apartment) in MB is pink.
---> Sestra Hale and I gave each other hair cuts a couple weeks back.
---> The average highway speed limit here is 130 km.
---> They call the graveyard shift MOON WORK. ha I loved that.

B.O.M. INSIGHT:
After hearing the news about our e-transfer out of Prague I went straight to these scriptures:
3 Nefi 13:32-34. 
 
32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.
I am grateful for the scriptures and the source of strength they have become to me on my mission. I love them more than anything and I know that in whatever circumstances I find myself in I can turn to the word of God and find the peace and assurance that I need to help me know that everything is going to be alright in the end.

THE E.E. EXHANGE:
I had a very special opportunity to go on an exchange with the one and only Evie McConkie this week. We started Friday morning and ending this morning in Boleslav while Sestry Hale and Cade stayed in Prauge. It was an absolute BLAST. We had a lessons set up the entire night! 2 cancelled but we were able to meet with our Tomasz and his darling daughter Ester, Zdenek and a English potential gator James. Evie is a stallion and did SO good! Even though she wasn't able to communicate in Czech, she bore pure testimony in English and then I would translate for her. 
I was kind of worried about how that would go because I have felt a little inadequate in the language recently, but she asked what she could do to help in the lessons and I told her to pray for me to have the gift of tongues.... It worked. I felt like I was able to understand everything so clearly yesterday. It was such a blessing and miracle. 
All I wanted was for Evie to experience all the different aspects of missionary work/life. She got the quick grocery shopping trip, contacting on the streets, visiting members in their homes, teaching gators, potentials and she even got to experience a stand up/no show. ha ha for our language we went to the 11th floor of our apartment building to learn nature words and such. Then we got kicked out by these 2 grannies who were going to take their smoke break. ha ha ha so we headed down to the 9th floor to finish. 
It was awesome. I love that Evie so much. She taught me how important the details of life are, learning to swing at the curve balls even if you aren't sure how to hit them and how to to value the knowledge of the Gospel. 

A successful exchange it was! Evie is ready for the big leagues now. ;)

ZDENEK:
Our lesson with Zdenek was sooo good! Last time we taught him he had some concerns about the prophet. When we asked him if he believed that Thomas S. Monson was the true living prophet he said that he couldn't say because he didn't know anything about who he is as a person, his opinions, etc. So! We introduced him to the Gospel Library app on his phone and we had him follow along while we watched the talk by President Monson from last conference from last conference. 
After we finished he said, well that wasn't that bad. ha ha
He them immediately started looking for other talks and he came across "I am a Child of God " by Donald L. Hallstrom I think? He got really excited when he saw it, because Thursday night he had texted us and told us that he was praying to know that he is a Child of God and that he is pursuing the right spiritual path. It was awesome. We read and dissected that talk with him. It was a good spiritual experience for everyone involved. He will be coming to church on Sunday along with Tomasz and Ester. We are SO excited! If he will be committed to coming the next two weeks and feels good about his conversion, he will be baptized on the 2nd of July. 
Keep him in your prayers!

EXCERPT FROM NOVY HLAS:
Prezident McConkie writes us missionaries a letter each week titled the Novy Hlas.
Here is something from Prezident Uchtdorf and his visit to Europe with the Stake that he shared in last weeks letter:

"During my recent trip to Europe, I was struck by the magnificent and strong oak trees
that surrounded us as we visited the Karlštejn castle—a 14th century fortress that once housed the crown jewels in the Czech Republic. As I looked at these trees, I thought to myself, “This is what the Church is all The Church in Europe is growing strong—like an oak. You may know that an oak tree takes many years to grow to its full size, but when it does, it is strong and sturdy. When we consider the gospel and how it is changing lives in Europe, we don’t look at things a quarter at a time. Instead, we look at a lifespan. As I think about my own life, it is impressive to see the growth that has occurred since my parents joined the Church when I was 6 years old.

As I visited with members in Belgium, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, England, and Northern Ireland, I was impressed by their strength and by their commitment to the gospel. Europe has a great and historic past from which much can be learned, but it also has a bright and wonderful future thanks to the dedicated members of the Church and the great blessings of the gospel in their lives. I saw many examples of humility and goodness as I visited with Church members and others. As they continue to show the same love of God and man that is already a part of many of their lives, their ability to grow strong—like mighty oaks—will continue. This is true for all of us as we love God and keep His commandments."

I love the Oak analogy. It paints a good picture helps me to keep faith in the growing process in missionary work and all aspects of life.

EMERGENCY MOVE:
We got a call from President Thursday night letting us know that the sisters area in Prague will be closing starting Tuesday. There won't be enough sisters again next transfer and he needs the apartment for the new senior couple that is coming in to replace the Holt's in the office. 
I was wayyyy bummed. I felt like one of my "twins" was being taken away from me and I had no choice but to accept it. 
Although it wasn't the news I was wanting to hear it was a good wake up call for me to realize that my life as a missionary is going to eventually come to an end. It made me take a step back and think about how I want to finish my mission and really take advantage of the short time I have left. 

Life comes at you fast and you never know what kind of phone call you are going to get that might change your life and circumstances in an instant. My wish and hope is that we can ALL pray and strive to live in the MOMENT. Sister Hale has been such a great example to me of this. 

That's all for now folks!
Happy Chore day! 

S laskou,
Sestra Fred 🌻

​Evie and her Czech work. :)

 Tomasz, Ester, Evie, and Sestra Fred

Exchanges and Companion with Evie for a day in Prague


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