13 MESICU : VITEJTE NA NEW HARTFORD, NEWWWW YOOAAARRRKKKKK

Drahy Rodiny a Kamaradi,

Holy Konoli. It has only been SIX days and sooooooo much as already happened. I hope that my fingers can type quick enough so I can get everything said that I want because the Elders are chomping at the bit to get in here and use the computers to email. hehe. 

Fun Facts:

Our tub is green and only the hot water works in our bathroom sink.

I get ready in our room on the floor sitting indian style listening to my music. It's great.

I have gotten to run everyday!!!!!! I love running. 

we have had NO FOOD. I have been living off of dry cereal (mini wheats) and baby bagels. I can't wait to go shopping today.

We have a recent convert her name is Sheaquanna. She is 18 years old and HILARIOUS. She is going to teach me all the New York lingo. haha!

and she loves MAN BUNS. She prayed for all the man buns out there to be converted. bahahahah. 

First, Do you like my subject title for the email?? Hahah I'm pretty much counting this mission of mine as a two year one... and if that's the case then I hit my 13 month mark yesterday. YAY! (happy dance)

Okay now let's begin with my companion. 

SISTER THAO: 

Her parents are from Laos. There are 8 kids in her family including her. She falls in line at number FOUR. wowwzaa. She got a big Laos family. Hahah they sound great though. Her mom has been a stay at home momma and her dad is a welder. COOL! She measures up to a rather exquisite size of 4'11. She is TINY. I honestly feel like big foot around her. HAHAHAH. But it's great. The office sister, Sister Wiggins. She is a doll. She reminds me a lot of Sister Munro <3 but yes anyway, Sister Wiggins nicknamed us the 7 11 companionship. because I am 5'7 and Sister Thao is 4'11. Soooo clever Sister wiggins. haha it was actually pretty funny when she came up with it. So yeah, Sister Thao is fantastic. She has been out for 11 months now and is so good at what she does. What I love most about her is she IS SO GRATEFUL ALWAYS. In our prayers that is the first thing she starts out with every time without fail. She has already taught me that I need to be more grateful in every aspect of my life. 

I feel that Sister Thao is a huge answer to my prayers and she is exactly what I needed coming back and relearning how to be a missionary (even though we all know I never really left missionary mode) ha ha. We are both super excited to work together and see where the next transfer and a half takes us. Chances are she will be the only companion I have here while I am in New York. 

NEW HARTFORD:

Our area is about 10 minutes south of Utica. Utica has a population of about 66,000 ish and New Hartford prolly has...... ehhhhh 20-30,000 or so. It's prolly similar to springville, but definitely smaller. They don't have much in the town... They don't even have like normal lights here. They have a single signal light that has four sides to it and it hangs on a string. hahah! what the? I feel like I'm living in the 60's era or whatever era that was. No, but the town is super cute! It reminds me soo much of the town BLUEBELL in the show HART OF DIXIE. heheh all the little dentist and doctors offices are in little houses likes Zoe's on that show. I love it. When I thought of New York I only thought of city... But Utica is DEF not city. It actually reminds me A LOT of North Carolina. A LOT. So that's kind of fun. I've been reminiscing on that summer quite a bit the past week. 

GATORS:

We have TWO right now! Alieanna and Nate. Alieanna is a 16 year old african american girl and she is so great. They had just recently started working with her before I got here, so we are still in the beginning stages with her, which are some of my favorite. Same with NATE THE GREAT. (He totally nicknamed himself that yesterday after our lesson we had after church. I told him he was great and he came back with, "yeah, I am great. Nate the great.") bahahahahahahahahahah. He's a stud. So, Nate the great is a single father of 3 girls. 9, 7, and 5. They actually found him TRACTING! How bout that? They had only had a few lessons with him before I came. We met with him this past.... Friday I think it was and we invited him to church. He came! Whoop whoop.He justttt missed the sacrament, but he was there for all 3 hours and then we had a lesson with him after church. He was 100% prepared and one of God's elect, but man is he going to be a tough nut to crack. He has a whole load of good questions, but he just keeps confusing himself with them.  Our lesson with him that day was supperrrr spiritual. We really wanted to get him on date for baptism and has discussed that if we felt prompted by the spirit to ask him to do it. Boy did I feel prompted. It was like the spirit was surging through me to just spit it out and ask him. So I did! I thought for sure that there was no way that he would say no! But he did. hahahaha it was a debbie downer for me for sure. His response was, well why do I need to be baptized again when I already have been twice. He's all hung up on the priesthood and why we have to have the authority from God... we have tried pounding it into his head as simply as we can, but it just isn't working. At the conclusion of our lesson on Sunday we invited him to pray to have a better understanding of the priesthood and why it is important. We have high hopes for Nate the Great. We know that he'll get in those waters. I think him saying no to me was a good reminder that all of this is a process. 

WORK IN NEW HARTFORD:

We are focusing on Less Actives, Formers and Potentials. So all day everyday we go around trying to find them and while we do we keep our eyes peeled for any others that we might feel prompted to speak with. Yesterday we were taking a book to a Homebound Less Active and on our way to her house I saw this mom with some kids walking. I didn't know where she was going at the time, but as we were getting ready to leave sister Hungerford's home I saw that the mom I had seen actually lived right across the street. I turned to sister Thao and I said I feel like we should go knock on her door. So we did! After talking with her for a bit, she mentioned that she had been wanting to get back to church (prepared). We asked if we could come back and talk a bit more with her about what we believe and she said absolutely. We have a return appointment with her for tomorrow. Pray for her! Her name is Vanessa:)

OUR APARTMENT:

Okay, our apartment is so cute. and BIG. Holy tolido. We have an ENTIRE room for studying. That is super weird to me. The first night there we went to do planning at 9 and I knelt down at the coffee table like sister Smith and I used to do, and Sister Thao was like, uhmmm what are you doing? We do that in our study room. Hahaha it was pretty funny.

I am truly SO happy. It honestly feels like I never even left. This mission is sooooooo different from Czech, but the work is all the same. I am just so grateful that I get to be a part of it again. I finally feel like I am EXACTLY where I am supposed to be. I've had a few moments where it's been hard, but I look at my CTR ring and remember all that Heavenly Father did for me while I was home, how hard I worked to get back out here and my support system (all of YOU) back home and those overwhelming feelings go away. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. They are my greatest friends. 

Until next week! :)

S laskou, 

Sestra Fred

Elder Chase and I just before our flight to utica. That was the crazy day. Staying in the hotel room by myself was kind fun though. haha 

Elder Chase and I are the best of friends after spending more than 24 hours together in an airport. He was a blessing! Glad I didn't have to do it alone.

​Saw this in the Chicago Airport and thought of Eli Rios.

Sister Nowak and us. 

​Our front door. Isn't it cute??

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 

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