Letter: 24 October 2016

Dear all,

This week has been so great!! I was so excited to go back to Ceske Budejovice and be there with sister Hill and sister Miller and they are doing so great!

Sister Baxter and I have learned to be organized with all the traveling and making the most out of the time, we have to be missionaries and be out and about with people. We love contacting so much and we had such a miraculous little walk when we got home from the relief society meeting on Saturday. We were just walking and said we would stop everyone we saw. There were not a lot of people to begin with but we stopped everyone we could and when there were not many people, we jogged until we got close to more people we could talk to. We met these two wonderful people, who were both named Petr and it just felt so good to teach and testify on the streets in our area again. The spirit really was with us and we just started the conversations by asking people: "What is the best gift you have been given?" and talked about Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. Talking about Christ is definitely my favorite thing to contact about! 

We definitely had a big twist in teaching Lucia this week when we finally found a way to get her to church and she then told us that she is never ever allowed to leave the city for health reasons. She will not be able to come to church at all. It made us feel so blessed that we can travel so easily but also sad that she will not be able to come. I can really see my desire to help others receive their salvation growing deeper and deeper. We are so sad when people do not come to church! Desmond also didn't come to church which was hard but we are choosing to be happy about what we are seeing so far- that the Lord is always with us, even when others use their agency unwisely. As long as we are doing our best, that is all that matters!
 

Being able to go to the women's conference on Saturday was such a  blessing. I was truly uplifted by the messages but my favorite part was being able to hear the testimonies of those incredibly strong and firm in the faith Czech women in Zion. They are amazing examples to me. I love being able to see how the saints here live the gospel and love it. They just bring peace to my soul.



We also had a great evening in Hradec Kralove when we had a talent show. The members here are so talented and we all made them laugh a lot when we explained how missionaries prepared for the day by being the arms or legs for our companions. The members were in tears of joy! It feels so good to laugh and be happy with the members!!

I love my mission and we are excited to be giving training again. We will also be having exchanges with Mlada Bolselav and Liberec and we are so happy to be working with them this week!
 

S laskou,

Sestra Manners

Letter: 17 October 2016

Dear All,

This week really went by so fast! Sometimes sister Baxter and I feel like we are running around so fast but we love being busy and working with people we are coming to love more and more each day (including the sisters) and we truly can see the Lord's hand in our lives. He definitely does 95% of the work, the spirit does the other 4% and we do 1%! But that one percent is the best that we can give. 

I really loved being able to learn from the sister training leaders in Slovakia this week. They taught us so much! Sister Ross dreamed of being able to serve together ever since we were in the MTC together and that dream was fulfilled this week! It was really nice to work with someone older in the mission like me and bounce off of each others ideas and thoughts.  Sister Ross taught me a great lesson: that we are not expected to give the best energy and effort that we can at the end of our mission but we are expected to give our all that is enough. My all can sometimes feel less than it was a few transfers ago when I had a ton of energy all the time but I know that as I do the best I can that day, that is all that matters. Heavenly Father is really helping me to understand how the atonement of Christ can help me to give my all each day as Christ makes up for the rest. What a blessing!

I also love finding moments to laugh about each day. Life really is made for us to have joy! some moments that still make me smile include when a man from Asia who did not speak Czech answered back to me when we tried to talk to him: brambory!!! over and over again and he smiled the whole time and we just laughed together. Other moments include when we are with members and we do not understand each others Czech and we just end up laughing together.  sister Baxter and I find more reason to love the work we do and the people we serve more and more every day, even the random people on the street who have really funny response when we try to talk to them about the gospel. 

We went to help the youth at an Indexing activity!

A true miracle has happened just yesterday! we found a way to help Lucia get to church.   A member, just bought a car and has room to take them to church so we will invite her this week and make sure that she goes! she has been wanting to go for a long time but has not been able to for health reasons (take the train). We are glad that the member was inspired to buy a new car! He is very happy to help! 

Desmond also didn’t come to church again this week but we had a really good talk with him and he really wants to be baptized so we said that he very realistically could be baptized in about a month and now he is preparing for the 19.11.16 as a baptismal date! We hope that all will go well and will really try to emphasize baptism with him.

We visited the sisters serving in Slovakia!

All is well and we are excited to go on exchanges in Ceske Budejoivice this week and see all the people that I came to love so much there.

This work is true and it is led by God!

s laskou, 

sestra Manners

 

Letter: 10 October 2016

Dear all,

I loved this week! We finally got to see conference since it is translated a week later in to Czech. We got to watch it in English since it is always best to hear in your first language but the ward watched it in the next room in Czech. I loved seeing the Czech saints so faithfully come to church on Sunday when there was a big marathon being held outside. Nothing will stop them! They are the best examples for me! 

Our district on P-Day

Conference was amazing and I feel like it went by so fast! I wish I could watch it all over again and take notes even more. I know that It helped me a lot to know that I need to be here and just be the best missionary I can be. I also love how bold everyone was in declaring repentance. I know that we can use the power of the atonement in our lives more and more each day to repent of the little things and let our weakness turn into strengths. I have seen that happen daily as I try to speak Czech and I am patient and rely on the Lord, He softens the hearts of others to understand what I say and how much I love what I share. I definitely have so much that I would like to apply from conference to myself and to how I am as a missionary of the Lord. Like trying to love others even more and have love be the motive behind all that I do. I know that as I focus on loving those we teach, I will have a greater desire to help them and serve them. I also really liked what was mentioned about the Book of Mormon. I want to start reading the Book of Mormon again but really read it as if it were for the first time, taking careful note of everything I read, so that I may more fully understand how those we teach are feeling as they also read it for the first time. 

I love being able to talk with the sisters in our mission each week. They truly are inspiring! They are all doing great and their faith and courage helps me want to become a better person. I love how the fearlessly go out and talk to everyone they can. 

Sister Baxter and I are trying to be bolder and just be the best missionaries we can be. This week as we talked to people, we tried to more simply share our testimonies with them and testify on the streets and in the trains and buses. It was funny that as we talked to a young man about hope using a survey that we made, he thought we were a TV crew and was looking for the camera. We just looked confident in what we were doing. it ended into a beautiful conversation about our heavenly father and we were able to share our testimonies with him. I love getting to know the Czech people and they have stolen my heart. 

We visited a sweet member this week named Sestra Vokalova and she made us laugh so hard!

I know the Gospel is true and that God lives. Jesus is the Christ!

S laskou,

Sestra Manners