Last P-Day in the MTC

Ajoh!

This week has been pretty crazy. Also.. very stressful. But it has been fantastic. The main reason is because our Visas are not here yet. So, If my Visa doesn't come before Monday, I will be flying to Bosie Idaho on Wednesday and going to the Nampa Idaho Mission probably for a transfer or until my Visa comes. It makes me a little nervous because I don't want to lose the language that I have learned so far. However, if we do end up going to Idaho, I know there are people there that need us. I know this is the Lord's mission and not mine, so I will happily go wherever I am called. Either way, I leave the MTC in less than a week, so that is crazy. Time has gone by so fast. I can't believe that I have been here for 2 months. 

Friday we had Skype TRC. We tend to have really bad luck. Haha. The person we were supposed to teach ended up not be able to chat with us, so we contacted a sweet lady in Slovakia. She spoke to us entirely in Slovak, but Czech is similar enough that we were able to understand most of what she said and she was able to understand our lesson. We also checked like every hour of the day for our flight plans.... when they finally came, we received two... which was not supposed to happen... the travel office messed up. Anyways, We got our flight plans to Amsterdam and then to Prague for Monday. We also got flight plans to Bosie Idaho for Wednesday. 

Saturday we worked on learning command form in Czech. We went outside and commanded each other to do things. We looked so dumb jumping to trees. I also got sent to stand in a corner by myself... it was kinda funny actually. Later we had a lesson with Zdenek and we taught him the law of chastity. It went a lot better than I expected and our teacher said that out of all the missionaries that had come through his class in the MTC, we had given the best law of chastity lesson. That was a really nice compliment for him to give us. I think the main reason is because we focused heavily on the blessings that come from living it and then we tried to tie it back to past lessons we have taught him like the plan of salvation and families. I'm also really grateful for my companion. We work so well together and just build off of each other and it really brings the spirit into our lessons. 

Sunday was an eventful day!!! President and Sister Henderson from the MTC Presidency visited our branch. I was asked to share a spiritual thought in branch council, so I shared Isiah 49:15-16. I have a strong testimony that the lord will never forget us because we are literally engraved upon the palms of his hands. In Sacrament meeting, I was asked to give a talk in Czech. Everyone is expected to prepare a talk every week and then in sacrament they call on random people to speak. I was chosen. I was really nervous mainly because there were important people in our sacrament meeting. (the Hendersons) I knew only 3 people could really understand my talk though. It was a good talk, I said "vytervani do konce je moc skvely" which means "enduring to the end is very awesome" Those three laughed because "moc skvely" has been our word of the MTC. We always say it. It was funny because all three of them laughed and everyone else was trying to figure out what I said. I shared a story about Grandma Besendorfer and how she has been the greatest example of enduring to the end. I know she is cheering me on, helping me, talking me by the hand, and guiding me through the hard times. She was the most Christ like person I know. I get teared up just thinking about her. I am so grateful for her example.  I finished up my talk with my testimony. I didn't use any notes and it made it very powerful. Afterwards President Henderson pulled me aside and thanked me for my talk. It was cool. 

Monday we had the opportunity to host the Senior Couples that came into the MTC. We helped them with their luggage and showed them to their rooms! Their rooms are nice! That was fun. We also got a call from the Travel office. We had to take Sister LaBarge there. She had to fill out some papers and then schedule an appointment to go on BYU Campus to the police station to get her fingerprints done. She can go to Slovakia without a visa for 3 months, so she gets to go straight there. We got another call and had to go find an Elder so the Travel office could talk to him about going to Texas to meet with a Consulate for his Visa. Later that evening we taught Ales about baptism and confirmation and he accepted the invitation to be baptized in three weeks. 

Tuesday we went to BYU campus so that Sister LaBarge could get fingerprinted. That was fun, it brought back a lot of memories from school! Also we checked our missionary portal and our mission had changed from the Czech/Slovak mission to the Nampa Idaho mission. So that was really scary, we were reading about the mission president and stuff. It is really stressful not knowing where I will be going. That evening we had a lesson with Zdenek on the law of tithing. We thought he would struggle with it because he owns his own business which is struggling a bit right now, however, he was very accepting. He asked if there was anything else we hadn't taught him yet and if he could get baptized sooner. We read through all of the commandments and things and the only one left was like... live the law of the land.. and he said he had that covered, so we told him that was everything. Then he teared up and the spirit was so strong, because he has done it. He has made a lot of changes in his life to get to where he is now. He is living everything that God has asked him to. It was a cool experience. (Just to be clear, Zdenek is just my teacher pretending to be a person that he taught in the Czech republic). After the lesson we reviewed and our teacher said his wife would be mad because she wants to see him cry, but he has never cried in front of her. We have made him cry twice in the past two months because the spirit has been so strong. It is just such a cool feeling. That evening we had a devotional by Bishop and Sister Waddell about loving kindness. They talked about how hard missions are, but we have to give it our 100% so that at the end we can say the same thing the Savior did when he was on the cross, "It is finished." I really loved that. 

Wednesday we reviewed the LSA assessments that we took. My language has actually improved more than I thought it had since the last test we took. But I know it still needs so much work. This language is crazy. We also had a lesson with Ales about enduring to the end which went well. He wanted to be baptized sooner as well, but there is still more that he needs to be taught before he will be ready. We haven't taught any of the commandments yet. 

I wish you all the best of luck, next time you hear from me, I will either be in Nampa Idaho or the Czech Republic. We will see where the Lord takes me! :) 

Love you all,

Sestra Guymon

MTC Week 7

Dobre Den!

Time has gone by so fast. I'm pretty sure we get our flight plans tomorrow. The countdown is at 11 days unil I fly to the Czech Republic. It is pretty scary! 

Friday we had Skype TRC.... OH MY.... Well... Let's just say I don't know Czech.We talked to a member from the Czech Republic. haha. I honestly didn't understand a word he said, ok maybe a few words, but not much. We prepared a lesson for him, but he talked the entire time. He would ask a question and if we didn't answer within a few seconds he would move on and start talking about something else. Also in Czech, "guymon" is pronounced "gooeymon" so that's fun. He kept saying my name, and then saying something super fast... I had no idea what he was asking me. Finally, I figured out he was asking where I was from. Also, I came to find out after TRC, my teacher said he asked us questions that we knew how to answer... he just said them in very strange ways. For example, he asked "Why did you decide to give yourself to the career of being a missionary?" haha, I guess it was his first TRC too. Our teacher apologized after the fact and felt really bad. It was a good time though. Our teacher said he was a typical Czech... they are very blunt apparently. Another funny story, the girls in our zone were all blow drying their hair in their room at the same time and all their lights and power went out. We had to go find the breaker box and flip the breaker so that they could have lights and power again.

Saturday was the big soccer game. We FINALLY WON! That is the first time we have won since we have been here. We taught Zdenek the 10 commandments and we taught Ales about  3 kingdoms of glory. Ales's lesson was a little rough... we accidentally told him that we had killed someone before.... ooops... don't worry, we got it cleared up. 

Sunday was lots of meetings. They are always the longest days of the week. My favorite part was the Sunday film by Elder Bednar called one by one. He wrote a song called "one by one." Go look it up. The lyrics come from 3 Nephi 11 when Christ appears to the people in the Americas. Christ served the people one by one. He let 2,500 people touch the nail prints in his hands and feet and thrust their hands into his side. If each person took 30 seconds with the Savior, that is 20 hours that the Savior stood there and let people handle him. Wow. What an incredible example of serving one by one. Another thought... the first thing God spoke to Joseph Smith when he appeared to him was "Joseph" ... his name. God knows your name, he knows your hopes, concerns, and desires. He really does know you and loves you so much! 

Monday we taught Zdenek and Ales again. Also we got a call from President Edwards on our dinosaur phone telling us that we were getting 12 new Polish missionaries, so that was exciting.

Tuesday the fire alarm went off just as we walked into the cafeteria to get breakfast, so that was scary. We had to all evacuate the building. There was a fire in the kitchen. They put it out and then we all went back inside and got breakfast. Crazy way to start off the day. Elder Neil L Andersen from the 12 came and spoke to us about temples for the devotional. He is so personable. The spirit in the building was so strong. He brought his grand kids and had them come up to the stand. He asked them why they liked the missionaries and the response of a tiny probably 8 year old boy was so profound and touched my heart... he said,
"I like missionaries because they are willing to leave their families so that others can live with their family forever." I almost cried. It was so cute. 

Wednesday I was practicing the piano and a random Elder came in and thanked me because I was playing songs that his sister would play at home. That was cool. Then later that day we got called out of class to take a new Polish Sister who is from Sweden to the travel office to get her passport copied. Then later that evening we met all the new missionaries and gave them a presentation and rundown of the MTC. Elder Karl Nielson and Elder Nathan Posacki who I went to school with, and Elder Posacki... who I worked with at the state park... are in our zone. We have the coolest zone. We are so blessed. 

Today we ran into a sister who is from the Czech Republic... She is dating the mission President's Nephew. We took a picture with her which she was going to send to the mission president and we spoke with her in Czech. That was really fun. She also knew the man we had Skype TRC with... she said he was... interesting. She told us that they have had to close a lot of areas down in our mission because they haven't had enough missionaries. They are sending less missionaries there. I often wonder why I was called to serve there, but I know that God has a plan, and that there are people that need the beautiful message of this gospel. 

I love you and miss you all so much! 

Sestra Guymon

MTC Week 6

Dobre Den Rodina a Kamaradi!

This was such a crazy week full of so many changes. It made the week go by so fast! 

Thursday we had a lesson with Zdenek. We didn't teach the lesson we had planned, but we did were able to find scriptures and figure out what to say. 

Friday we taught Ales about the Fall of Adam and Eve and had he had some tough questions. The rest of class we practiced teaching about tithing. We also had to take one of our Elder's to the Doctor because he hurt his back so we were about 45 minutes late for our 2nd block of classes. Also the Swedish Sisters invited our whole zone to play smrt (death) square (4-square) so that was super fun and we got to know everyone better during exercise time. 

Saturday we had a service activity in the morning. Then in class we summarized the third lesson in English then translated it on the spot and I was really surprised at how much of it I was able to say, there were only a few words I didn't know how to say. It was probably cased wrong though :) We had another lesson with Zdenek and taught him about keeping the Sabbath day holy. He felt lonely this weekend and went out drinking with his friends, so we recommitted him to living the Word of Wisdom. Change is always hard but he is doing great, he just needs to keep doing the basics like reading the scriptures, praying and attending church. 

Sunday so many changes came. Our companionship was made into a trio. We were called as Sister Training Leaders. I am so excited to get to know the Sisters better. We have lots of meetings and we have to conduct one on one interviews with each of the Sisters every week. It will definitely be a challenging calling as there are some troubles in a few companionships and there will be a lot of problem solving these next few weeks. I feel like I will grow so much because of this calling though. It will get me out of my shell and force me to talk to people to make sure everyone is doing ok. Also this calling has really opened my eyes to the love Heavenly Father has for these Sisters. I'm grateful for the opportunity to receive revelation to help in every way I can to make the MTC the best experience possible for everyone. 

Monday was a very sad day. The Norwegians left and so our district dropped from 8 people to 4 people. In class we learned more grammar principles. That evening we interviewed Sisters. Interviews take a lot of time and it can be a little overwhelming sometimes with all the things that need figured out, it is also a blessing though at the same time because for some reason when I serve others my own problems seem to work themselves out. These interviews also make for some late nights sometimes depending on the needs of the Sisters. 

Tuesday we taught Ales about why we are here on earth and the atonement. It was a really great lesson. We also taught Zdenek about enduring to the end. He is keeping all of our commitments. That evening we had a devotional by Elder Robert C. Gay from the 70. He promised that our families would be blessed for us serving which brought me a lot of comfort. It was a really good devotional. Afterwards, we discussed what we had learned at the devotional with the Dutch Elders because our district is so small now. 

Wednesday we taught Ales and this lesson I didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on which was super hard. We followed up with him and he asked a lot of questions about the Kniha Mormonnova. It was a challenging lesson, but all is well. Honestly I feel like the language comes and goes. That evening we left class early for a meeting with the new missionaries. We had 24 new missionaries come in, so we have to interview all the new Sisters. We introduced ourselves, gave them a run down of the rules and them took them on a tour around campus. It was fun.

Love you all,

Sestra Guymon

Key to Happiness -- MTC Week 5

Dobre Den! 

Toto tyden byl moc skvely. (This week was very awesome). 

Thursday evening we had class and looked up some pictures of some pretty cool castles. If you have the chance, look up the Hluboka Castle, Hradec nad Moravici, Lednice, and Karlstejn castles. They are so pretty! I also found out that my compaion's family makes intense gingerbread houses every year! Her family wants to make one of the Czech Castles this year... so that's how we got to looking at pictures of them. 

Friday we taught two lessons. First we taught Zdenek about faith and repentance. He asked some pretty intense questions like... "What do I need to repent of? Why don't angels appear to us? If Christ already suffered for our sins, why do we need to repent? Why do we need to confess our sins to God if he already knows everything we have done?" As we did our companion study later that day, we were able to find answers to all of those questions. My testimony about being able to find answers to questions in the Book of Mormon has grown so much! Then we taught Ales the about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. He already had a really good understanding of it, so that was great. 

Saturday was a pretty normal day. We spent a lot of time memorizing, translating sentences and roll playing. We also watched another crazy soccer game. Haha... there are just so many Elder's chasing a soccer ball around and then Sister's on the sidelines with flags, bubbles, you name it... It is a lot of fun. 

Sunday was fantastic. I LEARNED THE KEY TO HAPPINESS!!! FORGET YOURSELF AND GO TO WORK SERVING OTHERS!!! No joke, it really works, try it! That evening we watched a talk by Elder Holland called "Open your mouth" I'm pretty sure that talk was written for me because the spirit hit me like a brick wall. He told a story about some missionaries in the Czech Republic and then told us that we have to open our mouths and speak because words are the instrument to our success... even if it is really broken Czech. My love for the people around me has grown so much. There are days when I can just look at someone, like my companion, and get a taste of the love that God has for them. It is one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced. 

Monday we attempted to do a language fast and not speak any English the entire day... ONLY CZECH. I learned real quick what I do and don't know how to say. We started off the day doing pretty well. It was funny though because people would talk to us and we could only respond in Czech so they got a little frustrated and we felt kind of bad, but we were set on not speaking English. We had to break our fast so that we could prepare a lesson, but then we went back to Czech... and then back to English when we got to class so that we could learn some grammar principles. It was really fun though. 

Tuesday we had another lesson with Zdenek and answered all the questions he had. I was a little frustrated during the lesson though because I felt like I couldn't understand a thing he was saying. I came out of the lesson discouraged but knew that I had to go teach Ales right after so I said a quick prayer for the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. Ales's lesson went much better and I understood a whole lot more. That evening we had a devotional from Kyle S. McKay who is a member of the 70. He talked about gifts of the spirit. He talked about the spirit of revelation and how through it we can know the truth of all things and the meaning of all truth. Revelation comes by thoughts in our minds and feelings in our heart. He bore a powerful testimony at the end that our Redeemer lives and that he will soon come in his power and glory. God will magnify us as we prepare the earth to receive their king. That hit me so hard and gave me the desire to work harder. 

Wednesday was a busy day. We were hosts to help welcome and show new missionaries around. It was so hot packing heavy luggage all around campus and up flights of stairs. The first girl I hosted though is in our zone and on the same floor as us. She is going to Denmark. She is so cute! Her name is Sister Brown. We had a lesson with Zdenek and we taught him about baptism. He accepted the invitation to be baptized, so that is exciting. We will continue to work with him to get him ready. We also had TRC. Petr (native Czech) is honestly the best. He signed our TALL books, because he is the voice on the TALL system so that was cool. I'm pretty sure yesterday was our last TRC with him because we get to skype people in the Czech Republic next week. 

Other sad news.... 1/2 of our zone leaves on Monday for Norway! I'm going to miss them so much... even though they like to give me a hard time.... STORY TIME... During our break in class one day, I walked over to the window to look out. I looked down and hit my head on the window. The Elder in my class is never going to live that down. He told everyone about it saying that I just walk up to windows and hit my head on them. Haha... One of the Elders going to Norway will randomly walk up to windows, hit his head and say, "Look, I'm Sister Guymon" Yeah, It is a great time. Gotta love it. 

Anyways, I love you and miss you all so much! You are always in my prayers! 

Love,

Sestra Guymon