Ahoj všem,
Wow, this week has been exhausting. I've never been so tired and stressed in my entire life! We have been so insanely busy, but I love it!
Tuesday was a busy day. We took a bus in the morning to the Glasser's house for district council. Then we did some group finding and did a singing display. I talked to one man who was not open at all at first, but then I got him talking and it turned into a really great conversation. I gave him a Kniha Mormonova and a card. Then we had our English class. One of the formers we invited from the area book came!!! Also, one of our students gave us a box of chocolates which was funny because they had alcohol in them (as does pretty much everything here). For our spiritual thought after English we talked about the plan of salvation. The man we invited, Jaroslav, had some great questions about life after death. After the English spiritual thought, we pulled him aside and answered his questions and set up to meet with him later in the week. Then on the way home we gave the box of chocolates to a random man on the street. It was HILARIOUS! He was really confused but thanked us. Haha.
Wednesday we had our hands full. Early in the morning the Glassers drove us to visit a returning member. She has 5 kids all under the age of 6! We took her shopping to get her some things she needed and then shared a spiritual thought with her. It was fun to talk with her. Then the Glassers took us straight to Věra's house and we shared a spiritual thought with her. Then we ran over to have a first lesson with a woman we talked to on the street. We called when we got to her house and she said she would come down... she never did.. because we were at the wrong house!!!! When we found the right house, we had a really good lesson about the restoration of the gospel. Then we had dinner with President Churdle and his family. It was a lot of fun and because we truly felt like a family.
Thursday we took a bus to another city to meet with a boy that self-refurred himself. He is about 18. He met us at the bus station and we went to a cafe and he bought us tea. (Czech culture thing) There we taught him the plan of salvation. I'm not going to lie, he was really hard to understand. I don't speak teenage slang Czech. However, It was a really great lesson. We found a quiet place outside the cafe and taught him how to pray. I said a prayer to give him an example and then he prayed. It was really powerful and the spirit was there. He has been reading in the Kniha Mormonova and overall is a cool kid. Then we returned to české budějovice. Our other lesson got canceled, so we were able to do some finding and talk to people.
Friday we went running with the Elders and the branch president. Then we came home, got ready and just as we were getting ready to plan our day, PRESIDENT POHOŘELICKÝ (the mission president) calls us and said he WAS AT OUR DOOR. So we let him in and we had an interview with him. He looked through our planners and our phones. He also walked through our house and complimented us on how clean it was. He thanked us for the work we were doing here. Then we had 2 lessons cancel on us today. But, we also had one amazing lesson and found a new family to teach. They have a sweet 6 year old girl. We taught them the restoration and she really opened up to us about some of the hard things that happened in her life. That gave us the opportunity to testify a lot about the atonement. Then as we were leaving, the little girl gave us each a little stuffed animal, it was cute. Then we ran into a lady who served here a few years ago on her mission and she took us to dinner with her family. It was a busy day.
Saturday we had the most incredible lesson with a Mom named Tereza. We met at a cafe and we taught her the plan of salvation. She was really involved and asked great questions. She brought up the fact that 2 days ago, her son asked her where we were before this life, well, we answered that question for her! It was really cool and the timing was inspired. I really cannot believe how prepare she was to hear the gospel and how receptive she was to it. The spirit definitely guided that lesson and told us what we needed to say. Then we cleaned the church and got it ready to go for Sunday. Then we did weekly planning and it was insane! We had so many lessons to plan for, we are working with some really great people right now! Then we had sports night, no one came, so we ended up handing our a bunch of fliers.
Sunday we went an hour early to church to meet up with a member whose train comes in early. It was good to talk to her. I lead the music during church. Then we went and visited Olina who is less active. Her brother let us in and olina was asleep on her bed. I couldn't tell if she was faking it or not, so we talked to her deaf sister for like 5 min and then we could hear Olina moving, so we went and taught her. We also had a lesson with Jaroslav. We taught him the restoration and it went well. He asked a lot of great questions and he prayed at the end of the lesson. Then we had correlation and the branch President. He gave all of us missionaries a really nice compliment about the work we are doing here. He is really kind.
There came a point this week, where I realized that there was no possible way I could get everything done that I needed to and am expected to on my own. That is where the power of the atonement kicked in and I realized that I didn't have to do it alone and that I am not doing it alone. The Savior is always there at my side helping me do his work. It really opened my eyes to the power of the atonement. I know that each of us can access the power of the atonement, it is one of Christ's greatest gifts to us. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
We are now traveling to a mission conference for all the missionaries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The mission rented out a hotel for us to stay in for the next two days. I'm excited but also sad because so many missionaries are leaving and as well as my mission president.
Love,
Sestra Guymon
