Sister Dolinar and me playing with the Branch President's daughter Katja at the hospital :). I love her.
July 9, 2012:
I love going into homes where the Spirit is present
This week was beautiful. Although we have NO investigators! AAAH, life goes in waves I suppose... So keep our area in your prayers. Yes this week is transfer week again, although I don't want to talk about it! A few weeks ago we were out serving the Tmejs, spitting cherry seeds, and I made brother Tmej just crack up about something, and I said, "I know I stress you guys out, because I'm always talking to you about things, but I know you love it." And he agreed and said that they love that I'm in Jičín, and that they hope President lets me stay. I committed brother Tmej to email President and tell him that, and he agreed, but he forgot for weeks, and then finally this week he had the email written and was about to press “send” when lightning struck the tower here, and all the electricity in the village went out... aaaahahahaa NOOOOO. Brother Tmej said it was fate! I scolded him for such a thought. I must stay!
[A] homeless man who came to Church two weeks ago (and yesterday) came up behind us and covered our eyes while we were typing just now, hahah. I knew it was him the second I smelled him, hahaha, oh gosh. This place is so small. He is hilarious. Calls himself a vagabond. We [stopped teaching him] last week, because he came drunk to our lesson and was kissing our hands way too much, but then randomly he walked into Church yesterday, so I was glad to see he liked it, although [maybe] he was just there to get money. So anyway... back to my story.
We are here to baptize and teach, so this week we set high goals and are going back to hit the streets. We are going to Mlada Boleslav again this week. We were there last week, but it was Jan Hus holiday so it was empty.
I weighed myself this week for the first time on my mission. I have gained 15 pounds. That is disgusting. So I started shaking my arms and my cheeks to make Sister Dolinar laugh, and she just cries laughing at times, which I love. Anyway, we went to go visit this member who I didn’t really know all that well before, and she is so great. She reminds me a lot of Mappi and Aulikki mixed. She had just come back from blueberry picking (I miss Finnish pies), and she gave us some and told me I had to eat it with ice cream cake and cream, and I forbade it. I said I will only have milk, because I am fatter than I ever have been. I said I weigh 70 kilos, sestro! And she was horrified, and then I took the moment and started shaking my arms and my cheeks and making this slurping noise, and she was just dying. And then she started making the slurping noise without shaking her cheeks, and she was just laughing and laughing. And then later again I did it, and she said in Czech, "You better not do that to your face or it will stay like that." And we were just cracking up. It was beautiful, and Sister Dolinar's cheeks were just wet with happy tears. The member came up to me yesterday in Church and randomly did it again, and it just makes me happy that I have finally visited every member in the Branch. I know them all. I feel like I can finally start making progress now. Which scares me, because in the gospel we usually leave a calling or an area the second we start understanding how it works. Heavenly Father likes keeping us on our toes, He does. Pray for me to stay here though, perhaps all of our combined faith will combat the odds...
This week we also had a Family Home Evening with a family we hadn't yet visited, which was great, and I love going into homes where the Spirit is present. I want a home like that! It is a huge blessing. We taught prophets and had one little kid draw a picture and then tell his prophet (his brother) to describe it to us and the rest of the family, and we had to draw it--helping the boys understand the role of a prophet. The prophet boy was all over the place, and the dad just kept standing up to go pick him up and plop him back down next to his brother to prophesy. We cannot get frustrated with the little ones. They are trying their hardest, and when the Spirit is there, we can be humble and learn from them. I have been astounded at the beautiful things little children say.
Interviews with President were also this week. I love them. I called the night before and told President that since he was going to be here anyway around lunch time he should plan for lunch with us. He said he'd think about it. Not only did he and Sister Irwin stay, they paid for us to eat at this amazing restaurant. Czech food is really good, guys. Be excited. I love my Mission President. It makes me sad when people say their Mission President wasn’t very good. I love mine, and I tell him every time I see him that we are going to be friends forever. And he agrees! I love that. I love being loved! And I love loving.
I love the power of Scripture. I never really READ the Scriptures every day when I was at home, and I have changed that part about me. I love my Scripture time. It's my sacred time with God. To learn what He wants me to learn, and to make goals and plans on how I can change myself. It all starts with effort and study. I love that. I love that God loves us and has given us a textbook on how we can be completely happy. I encourage you all to keep reading. Every single day. For every day delights us with new challenges. And we cannot get through them without God. He heals us through the hard times and strengthens us through the good and the bad. I love Him, and my relationship with Him has grown.
Ja vim tato cirkev je opravdu od Boha. Ja vim muzete taky to odpovied ziskat protoze my jsme vsichni Bozi deti. On nas odpovida. [= I know this church is truly from God. I know you can also find that out because we are all God's children. He answers us.]
Love,
Sestra Izatt
I love going into homes where the Spirit is present
This week was beautiful. Although we have NO investigators! AAAH, life goes in waves I suppose... So keep our area in your prayers. Yes this week is transfer week again, although I don't want to talk about it! A few weeks ago we were out serving the Tmejs, spitting cherry seeds, and I made brother Tmej just crack up about something, and I said, "I know I stress you guys out, because I'm always talking to you about things, but I know you love it." And he agreed and said that they love that I'm in Jičín, and that they hope President lets me stay. I committed brother Tmej to email President and tell him that, and he agreed, but he forgot for weeks, and then finally this week he had the email written and was about to press “send” when lightning struck the tower here, and all the electricity in the village went out... aaaahahahaa NOOOOO. Brother Tmej said it was fate! I scolded him for such a thought. I must stay!
[A] homeless man who came to Church two weeks ago (and yesterday) came up behind us and covered our eyes while we were typing just now, hahah. I knew it was him the second I smelled him, hahaha, oh gosh. This place is so small. He is hilarious. Calls himself a vagabond. We [stopped teaching him] last week, because he came drunk to our lesson and was kissing our hands way too much, but then randomly he walked into Church yesterday, so I was glad to see he liked it, although [maybe] he was just there to get money. So anyway... back to my story.
We are here to baptize and teach, so this week we set high goals and are going back to hit the streets. We are going to Mlada Boleslav again this week. We were there last week, but it was Jan Hus holiday so it was empty.
I weighed myself this week for the first time on my mission. I have gained 15 pounds. That is disgusting. So I started shaking my arms and my cheeks to make Sister Dolinar laugh, and she just cries laughing at times, which I love. Anyway, we went to go visit this member who I didn’t really know all that well before, and she is so great. She reminds me a lot of Mappi and Aulikki mixed. She had just come back from blueberry picking (I miss Finnish pies), and she gave us some and told me I had to eat it with ice cream cake and cream, and I forbade it. I said I will only have milk, because I am fatter than I ever have been. I said I weigh 70 kilos, sestro! And she was horrified, and then I took the moment and started shaking my arms and my cheeks and making this slurping noise, and she was just dying. And then she started making the slurping noise without shaking her cheeks, and she was just laughing and laughing. And then later again I did it, and she said in Czech, "You better not do that to your face or it will stay like that." And we were just cracking up. It was beautiful, and Sister Dolinar's cheeks were just wet with happy tears. The member came up to me yesterday in Church and randomly did it again, and it just makes me happy that I have finally visited every member in the Branch. I know them all. I feel like I can finally start making progress now. Which scares me, because in the gospel we usually leave a calling or an area the second we start understanding how it works. Heavenly Father likes keeping us on our toes, He does. Pray for me to stay here though, perhaps all of our combined faith will combat the odds...
This week we also had a Family Home Evening with a family we hadn't yet visited, which was great, and I love going into homes where the Spirit is present. I want a home like that! It is a huge blessing. We taught prophets and had one little kid draw a picture and then tell his prophet (his brother) to describe it to us and the rest of the family, and we had to draw it--helping the boys understand the role of a prophet. The prophet boy was all over the place, and the dad just kept standing up to go pick him up and plop him back down next to his brother to prophesy. We cannot get frustrated with the little ones. They are trying their hardest, and when the Spirit is there, we can be humble and learn from them. I have been astounded at the beautiful things little children say.
Interviews with President were also this week. I love them. I called the night before and told President that since he was going to be here anyway around lunch time he should plan for lunch with us. He said he'd think about it. Not only did he and Sister Irwin stay, they paid for us to eat at this amazing restaurant. Czech food is really good, guys. Be excited. I love my Mission President. It makes me sad when people say their Mission President wasn’t very good. I love mine, and I tell him every time I see him that we are going to be friends forever. And he agrees! I love that. I love being loved! And I love loving.
I love the power of Scripture. I never really READ the Scriptures every day when I was at home, and I have changed that part about me. I love my Scripture time. It's my sacred time with God. To learn what He wants me to learn, and to make goals and plans on how I can change myself. It all starts with effort and study. I love that. I love that God loves us and has given us a textbook on how we can be completely happy. I encourage you all to keep reading. Every single day. For every day delights us with new challenges. And we cannot get through them without God. He heals us through the hard times and strengthens us through the good and the bad. I love Him, and my relationship with Him has grown.
Ja vim tato cirkev je opravdu od Boha. Ja vim muzete taky to odpovied ziskat protoze my jsme vsichni Bozi deti. On nas odpovida. [= I know this church is truly from God. I know you can also find that out because we are all God's children. He answers us.]
Love,
Sestra Izatt