November 19 Letter

pictures: fredy is a liquidator. i dunno if you can see the pictures but it litterally says it will destroy everything. from hair to nails to food to pets (it actually has a picture of a dog on it! WHAAAA it's nuts!) to hands to anything and everything. needless to say whatever was in the tub drain is no longer there hahaha

the other is a picture from a big shaky bridge here. it's super fun. it was from last week (sorry if i sent it already) and i can't tell if i'm making a funny face-i apologize if it's too nuts ;)

SO president threw us for another curveball, transfer week was a little differnet, which for missionary work is wonderful (we can really hit the ground running (and we certainly will) rather then losing a week between getting ready to leave and then getting back settled in. the big news regarding transfers is.....

it'll be christmas in ceske budejovice! :D i'm stinking excited. elder lisonbee is staying (that was pretty set. he is branch president after all haha) and... both the sisters are staying. (sister sears for all transfer, and sister bean only for a few weeks, she wasn't quite ready to head home :). in other news! we're getting new missionaries here as well! elder hansen is coming from ostrava- he's my companion from brno two transfers back, and the sisters are getting a sister fresh from the training center. it's been so long since i've been around greenies i mean new missionaries. goodness me. elder hansen is already here. we've got a few lessons today, so like i said, we're hitting the ground running.the sisters are going to prague tomorrow to pick upthe new sister, and the district meetings begin on thursday! it's really great. we're looking forward to it! it's going to be the best transfer to this point for sure.

in other news, as far as last week goes, we had some really killer lessons. and really cool stuff happen! we got in touch with a few people with whom we'd lost contact, which was a relief and a blessing.

we had a training in prague this past week which was great! it's going to be nuts traveling up there this upcoming transfer becuase there will be 3 of us staying over at the office elders, who are two elders that i was serving around in ostrava! (elder clyde, love the guy, and elder knapp, he's just great) so that'll be something to look forward too. the training was great. we learned a lot about understanding. and we also heard the mormon message about sanctifying ourselves, from elder holland. it was a great conference. and we took away some really great stuff. i'm just really looking forward to this transfer. and the best aprt is that it's already here! i don't even have to wait another two days haha

sunday was maybe one of the most spiritual sundays in a very long time. we heard a talk from a member from Hradec Kralove (kinda like a high councelor kinda thing but at the branch level, i dunno what that's called.) but he gave a wonderful talk about how to endure to the end. he had one example that i really enjoyed, how some group of people, i can't remember who or where, would go to great lengths to have visions or guidiance or something, and by great lengths they took drugs or had some wild rituals... to be honest i didn't really understand the great lengths... cause it was many words i don't understand. needless to say that they had to do some things that are wild. while, with the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are entitled to personal revelation as long as we remain worthy of it! what a great blessing! it was great. then he sait some really motivating things that were just straitforward and blunt. he pretty much just said, start today. change today and start making and keeping covenants with God, today. one thought that he shared that i really really liked (it's so true) was that "the goal of our life is not to get baptized and just come here to church every sunday" which while it is a great thing to do (necessary, even) isn't the limit of our vision. he really emphasized the temple (which we love as missionaries :) and how there are so many things that we can enjoy after baptism, how the gospel really is a way of life that is increasingly rewarding as we continue and increase. it was great. can't write the rest of the notes i took.

then we had preisthood, which i was really lucky to teach :) it was chapter 20 in the G. A. smith manual. it was just great and i could really feel the spirit guiding the lesson and teaching the students. just wonderful.

anywho's i could write all day about the spiritual experiences that are happening. but shortly said, miracles are happening. martin (a guy from my first transfer if you remember :) got in touch with missionaries in prague!!!!! so i'm really keeping my fingers crossed that he can start meeting with them and start feeling more of the Holy Ghost. it's amazing how much feeling the presence of the HOly Ghost means. i'm still learning about all the good stuff :) goodness me. anywho's with all the rambling i've done today i think we know why i don't have htis much time to normally write hahaha cause i get nowwhere. sure do love ya'll tons (we're planning on a trip to hluboka super soon, so you can acutally be jealous now haha)

love YOU momma. i sent a package last pday. lemme know when it gets there. has a tape. variety of chocolate- muzete mit cokoladovou ochutnavku (you can have a chocolate tasting :) and many ties. sorry about the ties. but i had to get rid of them without throwing them away haha. oih and also some letters in there. i hope the pile isn't super huge of htoest. i just don't know what else to do with them. i can't carry themn around but don't wanna just toss them. i am open to ideas! haha

love you tons and tons momma.

all the way to the otherside of the moon and back.

elderstimpson