Pure Joy -- January 28, 2019

čau!

I hope everyone has had a great week! This week I have experienced the most purest form of joy. That joy came from spending time with the Czech People at a Luau on Wednesday. It was the joy that I imagine feeling in the celestial kingdom where we can live as one big happy family in the gospel. 

Tuesday we had apartment inspections. Then we went ponolocking and took a super sketchy elevator down to the bottom floor. It was pretty scary. I honestly thought we were going to get stuck or just drop to the bottom. That evening we had English. We taught the beginners class which I really like because it helps me improve my Czech. Afterwards we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our lessons after English are becoming really successful because people are staying to listen and asking questions! English is a great tool to find new people who are interested in the gospel.

Wednesday we gave out two Kniha Mormonova's. We went ponlocking and this guy came out to smoke, so we talked to him for a bit, then he called his friend down to talk to us. He left and we gave him a Kniha Mormonova. We had a good conversation with his friend, he is a believer, but not super interested in meeting. He was interested in English, however! We also contacted this cute mom, and she was so impressed with my ř, it is the hardest letter to say in Czech. That made me feel pretty good. Then we went to Jihlava for a Luau! 2 of our investigators came! Yes!!! There were about 60 people there! It was a great turn out for both the Jihlava and Třebíč branches! We learned the hawka, watched some videos, ate some hawaiian pizza, and President Fejta sang some songs with his Ukelele. Once it was over, everyone just hung out. They made me do a hula dance and I was so embarassed. My face was bright red. Then one of the Kutilovi girls grabbed me and we danced the polka togther! That was fun! Here they learn acutal dances and go to balls. I think it is really cool. My cute little friend Andrea followed me around all night, she is 9. There was also this other guy that I tired to keep some distance from because he got a little flirty. Then we said goodbye to everyone. I gave this man a handshake and he wouldn't let go... then he pulled me in and gave me a hug... and I just about died. I was so uncomfortable. Luckily Starsi Akina was right there and he stood up for me and told him that we don't hug sisters. I was really grateful. 

Thursday we handed out 4 Kniha Mormonova's! One guy gave us his adress too so we are going to go visit him and talk about his reading! We had a lesson with Marie who is super strong in her faith, but she has already read to 1 Nephi 16 and really likes the Kniha Mormonova. She asked some difficult questions and with the spirit we were able to answer them. She is reading very deeply. 

Friday we had training in Brno. It was very spiritual and uplifting. We re-inacted what it would be like to hold a secret church during communism and it was so powerful. They were killed if they were caught doing anything religious. We went into a dark room, wispered a song, prayer and shared a scripture. The spirit was strong and it made me grateful for the strong members we have here. We started doing that everynight before we go to bed too. I think it is awesome and helps us remember our purpose and to sacrifice more everyday for these people. We did some group finding afterwards with the zone. Some of us sang while the rest contacted. It was fun and successful. I got 3 numbers and an email with an STL. Then we came home and met some cool people tracting. 

Saturday we planned a contacting block but it was snowing so hard and no one was outside, so we went tracting instead. We met a cool guy who has met with missionaries before. The only thing holding him back was that he said he lacked the faith to find answers and that he didn't want to try. It was sad because he was prepared and we wanted to help him find that faith, but he refused. We were going to get lunch becuase it was in the late afternoon, but then I felt prompted to go visit this grandma we had tracted into a few weeks ago. We stopped by and she was so glad that we did. We talked with her more about the gospel and gave her a Kniha Mormonova to read. She was so grateful and was so sweet to us. We invited her to church... but she didn't end up making it this week. Then we had to clean the church to get it ready for church tomorrow. 

Sunday we did come follow me in the morning with a cute family in the branch. We had a cute lady named Dagmar come to church who we had invited the other day. We were so happy she came and she fit right in and made quick friends in the branch. This branch is so good at reaching out to people and making them feel welcome. Then we went tracting, we handed out 2 more Kniha Mormonova's. We tried to have a lesson with Eva,  but she was sick. Funny thing that happened while tracting was this lady answered the door in her crocs (Czech's have this culture thing where they have to wear slippers in their house, it is usually crocs). Her excuse was that she was hurrying to the autobus. It was so funny. That was the most horrible excuse I have ever heard... she was literally in her house. 

Today is the last p-day before transfers. We are going to visit the underground tunnels in Jihlava as a district and for our culture night that we got for hitting standards. I hope you all are doing well. God loves you, he knows your name, he knows what you are struggling with, and he knows what makes you happy. I know if you put your trust in him, everything works out for the better. I know that this gospel is what can bring us the purest of joy in our lives. 

S laskou,

Sestra Guymon

Rokštejn -- January 21, 2019

Ahoj!!!

Jak se mate? Ja jsem skvěly! It was a great week! 

Tuesday we had district council and did some group finding afterwards. Some of us sang while the rest solo contacted. It was freezing cold and snowed on us. That evening taught English and went over idioms. We also taught the plan of slavation and were asked a lot of really great questions. A lot of people stayed after English for our lesson and we used the little pictures I made last week. 

Wednesday we woke up at 4:30 AM and took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Prague because my companion had visa work. Everything went smothly until we got on the metro to come home. You buy a metro ticket that lasts 30 minutes and we had one more stop left and my ticket was a few minutes expired. Then the ticket checker guys got on. It is random when the check your ticket so I was like oh no.... because I had heard of missionaries getting big fines. They asked for my ticket and I gave it to them. The guy looked at it, looked at his watch, then looked at me. I smiled at him, and he let me go!!!! YES!!!!! It was a tender mercy. We told him we were getting off at the next stop. God was watching over us. 

Thursday we went for a run in the morning. I was feeling way good and ready to go. I think it is because my body knows indoor track season is starting. I set a pretty quick pace and my companion kept falling farther behind. I made it home and then heard my compaion just yell, I looked back and she was stooped over puking her guts out. I felt so bad and told her to just let it out and she would feel better. I was worried she wouldn't want to go running with me ever again, but she did. :) I had to repent for that one. We also made a chalk display about the purpose of life next to our friends bar. He came out and helped us contacted people and gave us warm tea to drink while we contacted people. It was a lot of fun. That evening we went tracting and tracted into this cute  couple the Elders had a lesson with the day before. That was a little awkward. They let us in and gave us tea and bread and we read Alma 32 with them. They were cute. 

Friday we went contacting and ended up contacting into our branch presiden'ts mom who is less active. Right as we were about to ring the doorbell, she walked out of the house, it was pretty awkward. She was nice though. Not sure what the whole story is, but they want nothing to do with the church now which is sad. Then we had a meeting with one of the Kutilovi girls to discuss questions for our face to face with the young women which is on sunday. 

Saturday we had a little FHE with the Dransfields, Martin, and one of the Elder's investigators. It was great. We did a lot of contacting, and a lot of people had seen our chalk display and talked to us about it. We went ponolocking (tracting giant apartments) this guy came down and violently opened the door and was swearing at us and telling us to leave.... so we did. It was pretty scary. Then we had a lesson with Marie. We taught the restoration. She is very catholic and just like one of our other investigators has a hard time believing that the authority was never lost. She is really cute though and practices her English on us and corrects my Czech. :) 

Sunday I gave a talk in church about Divine Discontent, the talk from last general conference. I was nervous about it, but it went really well. After church we had a face to face with the young women and they asked us questions about the standards in the for strength of youth. They are cute girls. Then we went to the Dransfields for lunch to celebrate Starsi Akina's birthday. That was a lot of fun. Then we did some contacting and Marie walked out of the catholic church, so we talked to her for a bit, it was a little bit awkward, but it was good to talk to her. Another funny story... we contacted these two guys... they said they were going to get food and invited us for tea and said we could share our message. They tried like 3 resturants before we found one that was open. They were kind of strange guys, funny though. We went to the resturant and they ordered us tea, but it wasn't fruit tea, so we couldn't drink it. We taught them a short restoration. One of them was interested, the other wasn't. The one that was said he would come to our English class, so that will be good. Then we had a lesson with Eva and brought President Fejta (branch president) with us. The lesson went really well and the spirit was strong. We are doing our best to resolve her concerns. It is really hard to meet with her because she is in Jihlava a lot for work. 

Today was awesome. We did all our chores this morning and then we went to some castle ruins called Rokštejn. They were really pretty. The Dransfields drove us there. When we got home, we still had some time, so we went to the Jewish synagogue, and then we went to the Jewish cemetary. There is so much history here and it is so beautiful. I really do love it here. I love the people here. They have my heart. 

I hope you all are doing well. I know God's hand is in the smallest of things and that every day he gives us tender mercies. 

s laskou,

Sestra Guymon

Lots of tears this week -- January 14, 2019

čau, 

I hope everyone has had a great week! 

Tueday we had two lessons! Our first lesson was with a man named Tonda. We talked about humility, faith, and the atonement. He kept his commitment to pray and I was so proud of him. The spirit was incredibly strong in the lesson and I know it touched his heart. I testified looking him right in the eyes that I knew that God loved him, he looked down for a little bit, and when he looked back up he had tears streaming down his face. It was cool. Our second lesson was with a man named Robert, who we contacted into on the street last week and set up with. We taught him the restoration and gave him a book of mormon and commitment to read it and pray about it. Sadly he doesn't live here so we had to send a refurral. We had district council too and afterwards we did some group finding. I solo contacted this one guy and he asked me to come sit down on a bench with him. I did and he just started talking. Pretty soon tears were running down his face. I had no idea what he was saying. NO IDEA! So I just testified about the atonement of Jesus Christ. It took me a little bit, but then I was able to smell the alchol in his breath. He was drunk. The spirit can't speak to drunk people... so I just left. It was an interesting contact. 

Wednesday there was a lady sitting on the stairs by the side of the road just crying, pretty loudly too. We passed by her at first, but then the spirit told us to go back and talk to her. We did, and we found out her boyfriend kicked her out, she didn't even have any shoes on. She was pretty upset. We did our best to comfort her and gave her some hugs. She was a sweet lady. By the end of talking to her, she had stopped crying and even smiling. I'm glad we were able to help her. Then we had planned to go tracting in a little town just outside of where we live. The third door we tracted let us in, which was a huge miracle! HUGE! We taught her the restoration. She had some very interesting beliefs. She reads a lot of religous books. We gave her a Kniha Mormonova and she said she would read it. She had a lot of questions about Plan Spaseni too so we gave her a pamphlet. 

Thursday we had 2 lessons with less actives. Our first lesson was with Martin. He is struggling right now. We met at the Dransfields house and watched a conference talk. It was a good lesson and the spirit was there. The second lesson was with a cute teenage girl named Monička. Her family has kind of fallen apart and they haven't been at church. We introduced her to the new come follow me. She was cute. We also contacted literally everyone today and couldn't get a single soul to talk to us... it was pretty brutal. We decided to go tracting and a guy gave us a chocolate bar, so I guess that made up for it. :) 

Friday was a normal day with studies and weekly planning. We had a fun game night with the branch. We invited Tonda and he came, like an hour early... so we had to rush to the church so he wasn't waiting in the cold. We were able to read Mormon 10 with him while we waited so that was great. Our misison president stopped in during the middle of game night to say Hi and he knew Tonda because he was the branch president here before he was called as mission president. They hugged and it was cute. I think Tonda really needed that. He was sad that no one remembered him when he came back to chruch, but president remembered him, so that was cool. We had a spiritual though at the end of game night about the plan of salvation and Tonda was really involved. He is such an elect child of God. I hope we can get him baptized. I see a lot of potential in him. 

Saturday I contacted a cute lady on the street and she literally thought I was Czech. It was so cool. She told us that she could tell my comp was not Czech but she thought I was. It was super funny. She was shocked when she found out I've only been here for two months. haha. Then we had a miracle. God's timing was prefect. We left our house and contacted people. When we got to the street corner this lady waved us down and apologized for not being able to make it to game night. I had no idea who she was. She was just a random person in our area book that we invited. She asked where we were going and said if we had time, she had time to meet. Of course we dropped everything to take her up on that. We went to her house and she gave us tea and cookies. Then we had a great lesson. She knows a lot about us and asked really great questions. She is such a cute lady. She practiced her English on us too. We gave her a book of Mormon and some chapters to read. She was excited to read. She was our miracle for the week. I love Marie! 

Sunday we went to church in Jihlava because the Senior couple asked us to help translate in church. It was great. We tried to go visit a less active, but aparently she moved which was sad. We hiked straight up a snowy mountain to get back... we were sliding all over the place. It made quite the memory. Then the senior couple made us lunch and we missed our train back becuase we couldn't get everyone out the door fast enough... it was pretty stressful. So we helped plan a Luau we are having soon, then we caught another train. Then we had the Dransfields take us to a little town we left tracting letters at and we went tracting. It was raining and we got soaking wet from head to toe! It was a lot of fun though even though we didn't have much luck in terms of the work. 

Today we got our cleaning done, went shopping, and got in our three hours of prosclyting time this morning.  Then we went to lunch with the Elder's and the Dransfields. It has been a relaxing day. 

I hope you all are doing well! PS I made a super cool plan of salvation this week! 

s laskou,

Sestra Guymon

God's Timing -- January 7, 2019

Ahoj rodina a kamardi!

My testimony has grown a lot this week. I have really learned to rely in God's timing and the power of sincere prayer. When I am walking down the cobblestone street looking for someone to talk to, I will just be having a conversation with Heavnly Father. Time and time again I have had an overwhelming feeling of love come over me. I know he loves me, I know he loves you, and I know he loves the Czech people. 

Tuesday we had district council and then went over to a member's house to do service. They were able to bring one of their friends who is not a member of the church. We were able to do a roll play with the kids and in a round about way teach her the restoration and give her a book of mormon. It was pretty cool. We also brought some extra missionary clothes that were left our apartment over to the girls and they loved that becuase they are preparting for missions! We wrote some letters to people and then went and played football with the little boys on the castle grounds. It was a lot of fun. Then we went and they showed us a Nativity in a Catholic church. It was very decorative. Then we watched the firework show on the town square. It was so much fun! It was a day I will never forget. I seriously love that family. 

Wednsday was the worst. I had food poisioning. Every time we eat over at this families house, we all get sick. Not a fun day.

Thursday was full of miracles! We found three new investigators! WHAT!!!! The first one was a man who we had contacted on the street and exchanged numbers with. We were able to have a lesson with him and get a return appointment set up. The second one was the man who we found in our area book and invited to our christmas church. We were able to set up a lesson with him and it was awesome! He is very athletic and likes working out so it clicked well with him when I said we have to work out spiritually just like we work out physically. I really learned how to teach by the spirit to meet his needs in this lesson. It was cool. The third person we found when we went tracting that evening. We weren't sure where to go so we said a prayer... then I said, ''Let's go straight and then left and tract that road'' We did and a few houses in a sweet lady answered the door. She told us the Elder's had tracted 2 weeks earlier but she didn't have time then. Today she had time and let us in. She gave us tea and we taught her about the Book of Mormon. She is of a different religion and had a bible. The first thing she did when she opened the book of mormon was go to the footnotes and link the book of mormon to the bible. She thought that was pretty cool. The Czech bibles here, do not have footnotes. She is so open to our message! She is out of town a lot with family but is so willing and ready to hear the message of the restored gospel! 

Friday we had interivews with President Poho at his house. They went well and he gave me some great advice. He is a great man and I love his wife so much! President asked us to help the Dransfields set up their new phone, so we did that. Then we did some contacting and weekly planning. 

Saturday we tried to have a lesson with a convert that is struggling right now at the Dransfields house, but he never showed up, which was sad, becuase he is the one that called us and set up the meeting with us. Later that evening as we went tracting and contacting. We had a contacting miracle. We talked to this guy, he was really nice but not willing to meet. We continued to talk to him and then out of the blue he said ''I have time tuesday afternoon if you do?'' It was awesome! 

Sunday we went to church early and did Come follow me with one of the families in the branch, the other missionaries, and some investigators. Then we had 2 hour church! I really enjoyed it. During sacrament I always write down word people say that I don't know and everyone helps me define them. It is a fun little game to play! Now I just have to memorize all of them! AHHH. We did a ton of contacting and tracting but didn't have much luck. We also visited a less active member. She is a sweet old lady with no teeth. She talked our ear off and we could barely get a word in, but we were able to get in a short message and leave her with a commitment to read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon. 

Monday we went to the mall and bought pants! haha! Then we went and visited an old zamek (castle). It was really pretty and I got some good pictures. 

I love you all and I am praying for you!

s laskou,