Week 64

Zdravim! Merry Christmas! 

This week we had a baptism in Brno. Peter is his name and he has a cool story! A couple transfers ago I got on a tram and went to sit next to a man. You try to follow the spirit who to talk to but in the end you just sit down next to someone and start chatting. I was walking up to the front of the tram - there were mutiple rows of 2 with only one person sitting next to the window. So I chose to sit closest to the front and started making my way. Peter was sitting in the middle and had his bag next to him - and before I even passed him he grabbed his bag and told me I could sit down. We started talking and set up to meet the next morning. It was probably the best first lesson I have ever had. One of the sunday school meetings he came to before his baptism, they asked peter how he met the missionaries - and he tells them that there were no seats on the tram! I still feel strongly that the Spirit was working through Peter, telling him to let me sit next to him. His baptism was beautiful - The branch president baptised him. When he got up out of the water he gave 2 thumbs up - haha! He was so ready - Then after his baptism he bore his testimony. He shared how he was working a few years back, and one of his colleagues came to work on drugs. He was running circles around the building yelling, until peter and his friend had this man escorted out. In the end, this man committed suicide, and Peter had been feeling a lot of regret and guilt for years after. He shared that while learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ, he started having a relationship with his Heavenly Father. He asked God if he made the right choice, and recieved his answer. What the gospel can do for people! It's amazing. Meanwhile, us sisters had no idea what was changing him so quickly. As missionaries we just teach, commit and encourage and everything that matters happens between the person being taught and Heavenly Father. We are often reminded how little we do and how much Heavenly Father does. 

Yesterday we went to visit the Trebic branch for sacrament meeting. The kids did a nativity scene and it was wonderful. They had us missionaries sing the first noel and then gave us a little pitty clap until the incredibly musically talented czech members got up and sang the rest of the christmas songs in perfect harmony. Embarasing but we do what we're asked. The branch president shared a wonderful christmas talk - He talked about the best christmas gift he ever recieved. He went home one year for christmas and found his brother was not there - His father told him to run to the nearest hospital miles away, that his brother was really sick. He ran to his the hospital in the snow and when he got there his brother stood up and asked him to come to him. His brother gave him a watch that he had been wanting. He talked about how the watch, the object, wasn't the true gift, but that he could see his brother when he was so worried about his health. Being away from home two Christmases, I know that we can find these kinds of gifts all around us. Our loving Heavenly Father gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, so that we can return to live with Them again. I am thankful for the Christmas season, that it brings families together, and encourages us to think on the life of Chirst. He is our Saviour and Redeemer

Merry Christmas!

Sestra Holland

Week 63

Hey everybody! 

This week was a good one! Can't believe it started in Brno - that seemed forever ago. But thats good it means we are back in the swing of things. It feels good to not travel a ton - Haven't had a normal missionary schedule in about 4 months. Its definitely healthier to have some consistency in your schedule. I do miss Brno just so you all know. I love that city like a child. Sister Baxter is here and is awesome! Heres a picture of sestra baxterova vvv

We had some good czech experiences - when we went trakting an old babicka let us in and made us each eat 10 pieces of christmas bread. sister b was stuffing them in her pockets haha! We've been meeting a lot of meditation gurus on the streets lately. They always want to meet but they can be tough. they show us all the good places to teach though so thats a plus. The work is good. Met a lot of cool people! also all the women are pulling out their cukrovi.. AHHH! 

At' Bůh vám žehna! Mám vás ráda,

Sestra Holland

Week 62

Ahoj všichni! 

Got news for all of you - the greenie is coming! Turns out I didn't have a miscarriage. Just a late delivery. She's coming tomorrow so I'm headed off to Prague and then taking her back to the little jihlava. Sort of bumbed I've got to say goodbye to brno again. They ripped my heart out the first time and then they send me back to do it again. And our trio was on fire. It's alright though, I love jihlava. The members there are great... And SISTER DASKOVA is there. So itll be good. And i cant wait to show someone how awesome the czech republic is. 

Other big news, our friend Peter from the Netherlands is getting baptized. He's the one who does IT. He's been working towards his date with faith that he would get his answer that it was the right thing, and then yesterday was fast sunday. So we went and ate falafels saturday night and then said a prayer to start our fast, then we ended it together too. We met with him this morning and he got his answer.. he's so ready! So we've got two baptisms coming up - Peter on the 18th and then Miroslav's son, Erik on christmas eve, which is christmas here. Its going to be a good Christmas!

Brno is magical right now -- Chirstmas markets on every namesti - the smell of boiling booz and trdelnik. This morning we were in a toy store and i heard a mom say to her crying kid who wanted a toy - we'll send a letter to baby jesus! at first it sounds weird and you do a double take, but baby jesus is the one who brings the gifts around these parts. I guess santa deligated. It's also kind of funny because Czech Republic is the most declared athiest country in the world, yet baby jesus brings them their gifts! Anyways, christmas is magical. The czechs go all out and its a sight to see. It's really special to remind people about Christ and what Christmas really means. 

Mám vás ráda! 

Sestra Holland

This is this years christmas video in czech if you want to take a look - they are getting a lot more stuff in czech.. YA! 

https://www.mormon.org/ces/vanoce#worship

Week 61

Hi Family! 

Hope you all had a good thanksgiving dinner! We had thanksgiving in Jihlava - our district cooked for us. They found 2 TURKEYS. It was a thanksgiving miracle! we had a turkey bowl and played soccer in the snow and then stuffed our faces. I gave a talk at church - I spoke about the difference between sin and weakness and how they are different but both apply to christ's atonement. I've been thinking about that a lot lately and how it applies to me and my investigators. I keep going back to ether 12:27 “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will make weak things become strong unto them” 

So everyone be grateful for your weakness - they bring us closer to God! There's my little spiritual thought - Have a good week everyone! Love you!

Sestra Holland

ps all the christmas is coming out - czechs go hard!

Week 60

This week I want to share 20 things im grateful for - one for each year! i usually dont give into corny stuff like this but its thanksgiving! 

1. Jesus Christ my Saviour

2. goodly parents

3. being sealed with my family for time and all eternity

4. the Book of Mormon

5. temples

6. the capabilities of the human body

7.friends

8. Albert Einstein

9. Fruit knedliky

10. my winter coat

11. a beautiful Earth 

12. a living prophet

13. technology (havent seen much of her lately)

14. kofola

15. cultures and traditions

16. the restoration

17. czech experiences

18. the moon

19. opportunities to learn

20. MY MISSION

Highlight this week!! I had one of those highlight reel moments - When I was in Brno full time serving here a man named Mirsolav got reactivated. He has a son Erik (13) who we would go have a quick lesson (usually with sister Archibald:) and teach him some english with a little spiritual thought at the end. This week we went to meet with both of them but miroslav was stuck at work so miroslav came home from school - we went upstairs and he gave us all some tea and a bowl of dry cereal. it was adorable. we talked about christ and baptism. We asked him, erik is that something you would want? to be baptized? he said yes! we asked when - he said on christmas! then his dad comes home, sits down with us and we said we talked about with baptism today - and he looks and erik and says and? and erik asked him to baptize him and went and gave him a hug. his dad hugged him back and start crying. it was a precious moment. 

Other than that we have a christmas tree in our jihlava appartment named bohuzel. that means unfortunate but he's not that unfortunate. 

Love you all - have a great thanksgiving!

S vděčnosti,

Sestra Holland

(ps soon after this picture was taken we all started doing the chacha line around her house singing follow the prophet.. Poslíš proroka!)

Week 59

Hi family! 

We had another good week. This week we had district conference in Brno on Saturday and Sunday. There were some inspiring talks. I dont have a lot to say this week. I met a really cool french exchange student - I love meeting french people! It was really sad to hear what happened in Paris. Those families are in my prayers. Today we are in Prague because sister Bailey has visa work. Sister Bailey is SO funny. And sister andreason just records everything we say - here is the quote of the week.

sister h: I don't even know how to play hearts. Its ok, ill just eat my chocolate here.

sister bailey: eat your feelings fatty

oh hey! and this morning in prague I ran into one of the first people i ever contacted as a greenie in pardubice. His name is Loxman and he happened to be on the same metro in prague. Nahoda? asi ne. He's from somewhere near shrilanka, learned czech and works with IT here. He still carries around all of his pamphlets with him! pan of salvation and restoration. how cool is that? that was really cool.  

Love you all! Have a good week.

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 58

Hi everybody! This week was pretty crazy! We started in Brno and then went to jihlava for a couple days and then back to brno. We had church in Brno on Sunday and tons of people came! They had had a YSA halloween dance the night before so there were ysa from all over moravia. It was a good fast and testimony meeting. Lots of hugs - it was good to be back there. And we weren't in Jihlava on Sunday, but got news from the elders that our sweet sister daskova got up and bore her testimony how happy she was to be back. That she felt something missing and she's so happy to be back! There were some good testimonies in Brno too. A couple less actives got up and bore their testimonies in Brno too. It was really cool. Today we went for a nice hike the three of us. Sister Bailey and Sister Andreason from Utah :) we make a good team. We have a lot of fun -- its like a party every day! 

And hey! Someone I met in Brno on an exchange came to church on sunday and LOVED it. He's the one from HOLLAND who loves ALBERT EINSTEIN and works in IT. It was just obvious he was a good one.

Anyways thats all for this week .. Love you all!  

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 57

AHOJTE 

Disclosure before i get started .. my computer doesnt turn to english so this email might be a little weird. Diky za trpělivost1 SO we had transfers this week.. Sestra Holland is having a baby11 Only thing is she didnt get her visa so i will be serving with the brno sisters for a couple weeks. So thats the news for this transfer. We are going back in forth between brno in jihlava .. trying to keep both areas healthy.. its going to be a lot but it will good. Trios are a party. 

Last week we were in Prague once and I think brno once too. The picture I sent was with sister daskova. She is a member here who we have been working with for a few months. She is the cutest1 She is the one who always dominiotizes every word. This week she made us fruit knedliky and then we went on a vilet to humpolec to see her hometown. She showed us her house, her elementary school, and where her parents are burried. hřbitov .. word of the week. it means graveyard and it sounds way cool. We had a grand old time and then ate at a brewary. Most of the town are built around brewerys.. which just goes to show how much czechs like their beer.. But this one is really famous. its called Bernard and last christmas a member gave us all nonalcoholic bernard beer.. its pretty good i have to say. So that was humpolec. Sister Daskova is just zlata.  

Thats probably all for this week.

OHOHOH1 Probably most exciting thing .. sister white and i some how got into to the district leaders meeting.. we arent district leaders.. but we represented jihlava and it was LEGENDARY. Sister white and i were pretty pumped because we were trying to get into every meeting there is on our mission.. SUCCESS. 

Love you alls. Your in my prayers

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 56

Ahojte! 

Another crazy week in Slovak land. This time  I was supposed to take one of the sisters back to jihlava and sister white was to go to Bratislava. The weather was bad so we all got stuck in brno and had to stay at the sisters apartment. I am so grateful for rach's old mission coat. That thing has gotten me through everything. I slept on the floor with the big escamo hood over my head and it was just like a sleeping bag! Then we got back to jihlava and had a nice exchange. I was with sister russell -- aka Momma russell. In the mtc she would come into our room and ask us how our day was. I always said great, awesome ect.. one time i was like ya today wasn't great and she gave me a hug and started crying. she's a big girl with a big heart. She also sang opera for us in the brno appartment and shook the whole building. And then on the way back a lot of junk happened with the phone and security guards.. I turn around and she had her phone up to her ear and tears rolling down her face - she was like I'm calling president! I was like no your not! Things were happening everywhere. Eventually i kind of lost my cool with the security peeps but we all worked it out in the end . none for the wear. So that was the story for the week. When we all got back together we had some stories to tell.

Our friend Denisa is doing well. She is a gem :) She also sneaks herbal magic in our food to help us with our aches and pains. She used to think we were homeless haha! Anyways, this week was good.

Love you all and miss you! 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 55

Hey Everybody! Hasn't been that long since I talked to you since I emailed on Wednesday last week. We were in Bratislava and then Brno.. and I think a combination of everything did me over.. I got pretty sick. Although, considering that I was bed stricken we had a good week. We kind of did half days, and when we were out we saw tons of miracles. One day that I crawled out of the house... we were on a bus to Sister Marie's. She has been feeling evil spirits in her house so someone in our branch offered to give her home a blessing - so we went over there - it was the first time we saw her house. We have been teaching her for a couple months now. She is one of those people who has probably seen a lot of stuff in her life, and so to cope with it she's lossed a few of her marbles. It was good - I think it helped her feel safer. So that was on friday maybe? And we had a lesson with another sister - sister white and I found her our first week in jihlava together street contacting. We've been teaching her in her home with her son and daughter. Her daughter just turned 9 and loves everything we teach. We gave her her own Book of Mormon and she was turning the pages like it was gold or something - she still cant read but wanted to so bad! And then on Sunday they all came to church and the mom, Sister Gabcova, bore her testimony! We were sitting and listening and she grabbed my arm and whispered -- i feel like i should go up there.. will you go with me? I said sure I'll go with you - she gave the most amazing testimony! She testified of prayer and shared a personal experience. And then I got up after her and I still had no voice so i just croaked out what I could and sat back down. She stayed all three hours and just belongs there. So it was an amazing Sunday - And Marie came too. She apparently went up to a member when we werent watching her and just looked at him like she couldnt speak - and this member grabbed the elders and they gave her a blessing and she convulsed and felt the demon come out of her so that was pretty cool too.. not koscher AT ALL and we were not super happy about it but its all good. Just trying to keep the normal sometimes but sometimes you gotta embrace the weird too. As for the time we spent indoors, I slept or we watched Bible videos. We got through the whole Old and New testaments. And im really glad i got sister white because anyone else i'd probably be real sick of by now. She is a good one. She also makes me soup and tea.. Which by the way is how czech people deal with EVERYTHING. Herbal tea. I've got lots of herbal tricks if anyones got a problém. Just let me know! Love yalls! Have a good week! (Still haven't watched konference so I will be able to share the konference love next week) 

S láskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 54

Hello all! Im really sorry I do not remember a thing that happened this week .. don't worry I wrote it down somewhere but recounting  any of it to you right now might be a little rocky. Neverthless I will try - So we started the week mushroom hunting with a less active member who is THE SWEETEST - in czech you can dominiotize words or change the end so that it means something little -- like im a sestra, but sometimes people call me sestrička like "little sister" .. just makes everything cute. Anyways.. She dominiotizes EVERY word -- thats how cute she is. we found lots of mushrooms and then sister white and i had mushroom pasta for lunch! it was way good! We had district meeting in trebic this week - we rotate because half of our district lives like 2 hours away. And then sister white and I got the stomach flu which was AaWesMME. i had it for a couple days and then once sister white got it too we decided to sleep it off. It was kind of a blessing because we hadnt practiced our training at all so we had a little time to go over everything. And then sunday after church we did a little tracting.. and then went off to bratislava- when we got there the slovak sisters were knee deep in halušky. Like Ive said before.. it doesnt matter how sick i feel..  we FINISH halušky. And then the next morning we had training in bratislava and then headed to brno, spent the night there and the next morning had training there. It was really interesting to see the difference between the two. They both were really great - just a different feel. So that was that and then we headed home and taught english and met with our friend Michal. Lots of blessings and miracles.. we are happy to be in our area again and get back to the meat of missionary work! YA! Love yalls! čauky

Sestra Holland

Week 53

hello hello!

This week in short- We had a pretty normal week, apart from the exchange in Brno. I went into Brno with sestra schaerrer - it was a blast into the past. (she was my comp last transfer and we were in brno) At night we visited Miroslav, our crazy uncle. He is doing well! That night I talked to someone on the tram named Peter.. he was from Holland and has been living in cz for 4 years now. he's an IT guy and loves Albert Einstein... It was like what the?! Why didnt i find you last transfer?! The next morning he met with us and it was probably the best first lesson I've ever had. He's so smart but has the "i want to learn more" attitude. He's straight up zlatý. Then I got to see the baty's and talked to sister schaerrer for a little bit. she's a good one - i got a good step daughter. And then on saturday we found a cool kid named martin and played soccer with him. unfortunately he moved to prague yesterday but that was fun. While we were playing ridiculous lighting started ... striking? .. and we all screamed like little girls and ran home. We did service again on mireks farm and then had lessons til 9 ... we kind of looked like death so the elders cooked us spaghetti squash and we picked up our dinner on the way home. Those are good elders - the ones that make you food. then yesterday we woke up at 4 and went to church in trebic - like an hour train .. north? not sure. we visited some members there. one lady was telling us it isnt healthy to wash our hair daily.. that it should be twice a week TOPS. we are thinking about it but still havent accepted the challenge. then today we were so darn tired, for our vilet we took a 3 hour nap and are ready for another week! I should be on next monday, but if not it may not be until wednesday. Just a forewarning. Anyways, love you all! have a good week :)

Sestra Holland

Week 52

Ahoj ahoj,

Crazy week - they sure go by fast when you get even busiER. Didn't think it was possible but it happened. Biggest thing this week was probably our Exchange in Trencin, Slovakia. We took the bus there - before we crossed the border we called the sisters there and told them what time we will get in. They asked if we wanted them to wait for us at the bus stop - i had been their once before so i told them we'd call them if we needed them and they could do their planning like usual. So we get there and we failed to realize that our phones don't work in Slovakia .. blbost! When we got off it was dark and I didn't know where we were, but we asked an old lady how to get to the center and we walked rovně straight to their apartment - it was a miracle. So then we had an awesome Exchange with the slovak sisters. I still love going to Slovakia.. its different enough that if you tuned out you would be like hey thats a totally different language, but you tune in and understand. I was with Sister Ross. She's been in the country for 2 weeks now and is killing it. They made us halušky and we were on our way. We also had kebabs which are illegal in america because they violate health codes. On the way back there was a delay so we missed our second bus so we stayed in Brno for the night. We were walking underground below the train station -- chain smokers coughing, trash and graffiti and vit pits everywhere, and i got a little místy and said to sister white .. THIS IS MY HOME! Missed that brno. Then on Saturday we went straight to the farm where we do service from the train - 2 days without a shower and wearing whatever we had that would fly for service.. it was an epic entry. Mirek looked at us and was like what in the world happened to you to in his hick-like czech. he's cool. And then we ate a ton of food and went back to work. That night sister white talked to someone on the bus who came to church the next day - we went on a walk with her sunday night and gave her a book of mormon. she is top notch. also we are teaching a mom Pani Gabcova who is doing awesome. We visited her yesterday as well and she is loving it all - Today we went to Telč and i had probably the best svickova ive ever had and then we went with sister daskova to look for some edible mushrooms in the forest. it was nice to get fresh air but unfortunely no mushrooms. better luck next time. 

Mám vás moc ráda!

S láskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 51

Hello Family!

This week in a nutshell - We started out with the best English class I've ever had - and thats hard to compare because in České Budějovice its just a bunch of old men giving us advice about finding true love and it is so cute it just makes you want to cry. But this week the most amazing thing happened - We shared our little 5 minute spiritual thought at the end and everyone got WAY into it. So we had a giant missionary discussion and when everyone left they were giving us requests about what "duchovni téma" we could talk about next week. Then we have been helping this lady who hasn't been to church in a long time with her family history - she is so into it! And the cutest thing ever. She always has food waiting for us when we get her, and her appartment is something out of country living magazine. She calls us her zlatíčky - little gold things. - its cuter than it sounds. We worked on the farm again at Mireks - this week we cleaned out all the rabbit dung out of their cages. I swear I havent smelled such a retched smell in all my life. and they fed us an ostrich egg because they have a pet ostrich. I was planning escape routes to hurl. But i kept it down and we got rid of all that rabbit dung.. SUCCESS! And then we had some homemade knedliky a omáčku :) no matter how sick i feel i can down that stuff no problém. Other news.. Im piano player girl at sacrament meeting. which ive done before but not regularly and im running out of songs i can play- which is like 4.

As far as teaching goes, this week was a little dissapointing at first. Sestra White and I were walking to sports night on Thursday and we were like - hey, whats going on? We are literally talking to everyone we see. Buses, grocery stores, trains, everywhere. And we are finding great people, but something always happens - they cant meet for whatever reason. So we were walking and talking - and we decided we were on the edge - someone super awesome was coming and then I elbowed sister white - i was like hey sestro, its him. So we stopped this man and he talked about how he believes in God but he knows nothing about him and would like to listen to our message. Literally golden. So we exchanged contacts and set up a lesson. And then the rest of the week we have been running into all these people we've talked to before. 

One lady in particular we met with in her home. Pani Gábčová. She has 5 kids or so and she is really excited about meeting with us. She's looking for things in her life and she's going to find it real soon! Really exciting stuff. Her daughter is also really curious, she's about 9 or 10. 

Happy Labor Day everyone! I had no idea but that's ok! 

Mám vás ráda! 

S lákou,

Sestra Holland

Week 50

Hi family! 

Sorry if this email is weird - Sestra White and I don't speak English so this feels kind of strange. This week we worked really hard - we found a lot of really good, interested people this week.. Miracles! Another miracle this week - it was hot and humid and we were trakting - a lady was like please go away but still really nice. Then when we kept going she yelled at us POJDTE and so we came and she gave us giant juicy tomatoes from her graden. We went to the beautiful Trebic this week - if you have been following along .. and anyone reads these things.. we went to trebic my first 2 months in brno because the members there LOVE sisters but there are no sisters there. And we visit the really old ladies and accept all the cookies and ice cream and bearded kisses and go home. Well then they opened up jihlava to sisters last transfer so we didnt go to trebic but now im in jihlava so im going again. Its really a fun time. The members there are so strong we just love them. And we get the awesome train rides home that are absolutely gorgeous. Also we work on this really cool farmers farm every saturday. His babička said she wanted all the potatoes pryc so I took a knife and had at it. Turns out there were a TON of really good red potatoes in there and they wanted to just throught them all out. so I stuffed them all in my pockets - we had them for dinner last night. THey were SO good! Also he has an ostrich and a llama. then babička feedds us a ton of food and we go home. she made some awesome kuřecí steak and more potatoes - i admit i ate about 6 or 7 raw before that huge meal - almost lost it all! Also he's going to show us how he kills rabbits next time.

So that was most of our week - we saw a lot of  little miracles. I'm excited for this next week when we start meeting with all the people we found. 

Oh! And theres a family here in the branch who lived in Redwood city for a few years - it was awesome because the only thing people know about california is Hollywood and moviestars so it was kind of exciting that someone was actually familiar with my hometown. Their family is like the czech version of the Bryants - like exactly! Say hi to them for me! 

Have a great week everyone! And HAGF Alex! chichi enjoy school

S Laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 49

Hello Everybody! So this week was a little crazy but i sure went out with a bang. I got into jihlava this morning - its a small little place compared to Brno. Im afraid Brno still has my heart, but I think I'm going to like Jihlava. A little bit of quiet. So last week - it started in Prague, when sister Schaerrer had her viza work in prague. Then we met with a member of the branch his name is Gad Vojkuvka. He was a member of the church here during communism and told us a little more about the history and some of his crazy stories. Basically the church here began on the foundation of yoga. He would teach yoga classes and they would have "spiritual discussions"at the end. In the end most of the students were meeting with Gad personally and by the end mostly everyone had gotten baptized. He told us stories about getting bombarded during the war and always feeling like he was being protected because he always survived. It was a really neat meeting. The old man really talks your ear off so we were lucky to make it only 2.5 hours. He also gave us some marriage advice at the end like most old czech men do. Then on Thursday we had an awesome training. Then fridayMIROSLAV GOT BAPTIZED. The baptism started at 3 - All the members had showed up and were talking in the entry way, and then we started get nervous coming up on 3oclock and Miroslav hadn't arrived to his own baptism. But then he comes in walking down the pathway with his suit and tie and everything. It was awesome. Bratr Holy baptized him - Sister Daugirda came to Brno because we started teaching him together last transfer. That was a happy reunion. And her and I spoke and we all sang. The elders investigator got baptized too in the same service. His name is zbynek - he's got a good heart. Then we all had refreshments and that was a rap. On Saturday the branch mission leader got married to another girl in the branch and we got to go to that. It was a nice wedding and the czechs do it a little different so it was a good experience. Ivo, the branch mission leader, is like our 5th teamate so we were happy to be there. Then on Sunday Miroslav and Zbynek got confirmed and almost everyone I knew from the past 4 months was there. I may have shed a few tears, but it was a good day. I was asked to give a little parting testimony at church and I said goodbye to everyone afterwards - I felt like I left everything I could in Brno and im at peace with the whole thing. One of the elders investigators is a little bit strange and was telling everyone after that he saw a halo on my head while i was speaking at the pulpit. The branch all thought that was pretty funny. Anyways ya, so Im on to new things. Im serving with Sister White here in Jihlava. We are going to make it good - and we will be going to Slovakia on exchanges quite often - yeeee:) i love Slovakia. So I hope this email made sense. It was an amazing week also I am tired. Love you and talk to you next week 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 48

Happy tuesday everyone! Sorry I didn't get on yesterday - my companion had to do some visa work in prague. THIS WEEK: Miroslav is getting baptized!! He is way excited and so are we. Its been a crazy journey with Miroslav. He asked probably one of my favorite people to baptize him - Brother Holy. The Holyovi are such a solid family. So this week is looking kind of crazy - crazy and awesome. We've got a surprise zone conference on Thursday, Miroslavs baptism on Friday, then saying goodbye to our friend Bara after that, Saturday there will be a wedding and we will be recieving transfer calls, and then Sunday Miroslav will be confirmed and whoever is leaving will pack like crazy at night and head out on monday. Its going to be awesome! So thats where we are. And we got it worked out so sister D can come in for the baptism. Im also super interested in history of the czech republic and the history of the church here during communism, and one of the first members of the church lives here in Brno. So we scheduled to meet with him this week and he's going to tell us his story. I heard he's a talker - im so pumped. Today we did service at the cutest little old folks home - we go there every week - but since it may be my last time I was walking back and just going " i love that building, i love that bridge, i love that random stranger becuase she's a brnačka" my district was making fun of me for moping but if this is my last email from brno, just know that I am in love with this city and the people. There is so much history here and incredible people. Love you all, have a good week! 

S láskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 47

Hey everybody! 

We started this week out with some work in the Brno archives - we took pictures of old birth/death records which get sent to germany then to salt lake and then end up on family search. That was a cool experience - the Baty's work down there and are a hoot. They are so great. Big news of the week ... THIS GIRL WENT TO SLOVAKIA. I had an exchange over there and got to spend the day. I served with sister Eggers who was in the mtc at the same time as me - just a classroom over learning slovak instead of czech. also she's from hollister california and was in zions choir! haha small world. we didn't figure that out til a couple months ago. so we made the trek down there - we had a 5 minute connection in bratislava and our train from brno was late so we missed that. in bratislava (slovakia) we decided to go to the church building and plan for lessons, not even thinking about the fact that we dont have keys to get inside. so we get on the bus and the senior couple, the cottles, are hop on right before the doors shut and go what are you doing here? they took us to the building (which was air contitioned hallelujah). and the bus back to the train station i started talking to this guy about english because he had english on his shirt and the old lady next to him kept cutting him off and answering instead - she ends up falling us to the train and on the train, then tells us where to sit. we sit down and these other people come to sit next to us. in the end we are talking to 7 people around us the same time about the gospel.. it was awesome! and in slovak! they are close enough that it doesnt make a huge difference. they mostly just sound like someones pulling their tongue out of their mouth while theyre talking. one of the guys wants the missionaries to come to his house, the rest just took cards and brochures. anyways that was super fun - then we got into trenčin and i felt like i was in mexico. it was an awesome day. I love sister eggers shes a good one. at the end of the day we went and cooked dinner for the branch president, his wife, and his mom. They were so incredible. When i started speaking czech to him his eyes popped out of his head though. i guess czechs dont really find themselves in trenčin too often. I picked up a few words and i was a real slovak in the end :) then my comp sister schaerrer and sister eggers comp sister abbot came back via train and made us halušky - after the elders friend had made us fruit knedliky the day before.. thats some rich stuff. Then sister schaerrer and i came headed back to brno the next morning.. we may have grabbed the wrong train and ended up kind of close to the austrian border, but as far as we know we never left slovakia/czech republic. well that was kind of the event of the week. Love you all. Happy Anniversary Rachael and Aaron, and Happy Birthday to the tough little princess girl! 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 46

Hello everybody!

About a month ago we went out to dinner with a senior couple in Prague after a conference, and they had previously served in France. They were telling us about a friend they had, an old lady, who had been meeting with the missionaries for years and years, but baptism was always a concern for her. One day, she asked the missionaries if she could recieve a blessing, and the missionaries weren't sure if they were allowed to without permission, so they told her no and never returned to it again. Then this senior couple became good friends with her a few years later, and the older lady told them that she had previously wanted a priesthood blessing. This elder (who is now working in the archives here in Brno) gave her a blessing, and it changed her! She was baptised and the gospel has blessed her life ever since. 

This week we were working with our friend miroslav who is so prepared, but after hearing this story my companion and I felt the impression to offer him a priesthood blessing. A member of the branch gave a beautiful blessing to this man, and it left an incredible feeling in his home. His baptism is in a few weeks and he feels so good! Its amazing what the gospel does to people. We have a funny relationship with Miroslav and his daughter Karolinka - we joke around a lot. He never really understood why its important to be baptized by someone with proper authority and this week we asked him who he wanted to baptize him. the conversation went like this : us - Will you think about who you want to baptize you? Miroslav - It's the same to me. Someone who has authority. then I put out my fist and he pounded it. It was a proud moment.

Also this week, all the youth got back from FSY (european EFY) - this week at fast and testimony meeting, they all ran up to the front as soon as they opened it up to everyone and gave incredible testimonies - speaking way beyond their years. One young man in particular - Last transfer he looked like he was getting dragged there every week and listened to music the whole time. This week sister Schaerrer and I got there to unlock the building, and he was standing there in a suit and tie to get the sacrament ready - like a new person! It was really cool to see what an impact it had on all of them. And then their parents started getting up and bearing their testimonies, and at the end, Gad Vojkuvka got up to bear his testimony. He was one of the few first members here in czech republic during communism. He expressed his confidence in the hands the church will be in the czech republic. It was a really powerful testimony meeting. 

In other news, there were two companionships of sisters in my mtc group. Me and sister fredrickson, and sister clark and sister birkeland. Sister Clark and Sister Birkeland are serving togther right now where I was BORN in good ol pardubice. Remember the chocolate shop lady? She dropped the sisters after I left - and they found her again! And she is preparing for baptism! I was so happy I almost cried. Her, her husband and her cute little boy who was always trying to explain to me mindcraft in czech when i had been in the country for like 2 months. 

Something else kind of cool, we started meeting with a really nice man who's wife is a priestess at one of the most famous cathedrals in brno. And his job is to open and close the doors everyday.. How cool is that?! 

Love you all-

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 45

Hello everyone!

This week we went up to Karlstejn- all the missionaries met at the prague train station and we went to the dedication site of the mission. 25 years ago the first missionaries stood there and I can't even imagine how they must have felt. They hardly new the language and there were only 8 of them. Our mission president wrote us this week about the history behind it. "July 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the formal return of missionaries to the Czech Slovak Mission. After forty years of communism, the Velvet Revolution of 1989 prepared the way for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be recognized again in February 1990. The first missionaries entered the country a few months later and the mission was formally reorganized in July of 1990 when my mission president and his wife, Richard and Barbara Winder, arrived in Prague." Something that is incredible to me is that a lot of the members here have lived through this time when the church was rerecognized and we hear incredible stories everywhere we go. There are pioneers here in czech republic - the people are inspiring and it's such a blessing to be a part of their lives. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 44

Hello everyone!

A lot of the people we have been meeting with went on vacation this week so we have been outside a lot. Its a whopping 35 on average this week - And sudden thunderstorms every once in a while that do the trick. Miracle of the week.. I drove a Brno Tram!!! Not a lot of czech people can say they've done that! Other than that, we did some gardening this week for some old folks, did a lot of trakting, and talked to a LOT of people. Trakting was a little scary because people answer the door in their underwear when its hot. But when everyone you know is out of town you just take it to the streets. We also had dinner at our friends Adam and Eliska's. They are a young couple studying here in Brno. They are such great people, and she feeds us well!

Hezky týden!

Sestra Holland

Week 43

Ahoj všichni!

This week was a good one - I met an awesome guy from some place near Nigeria this week, and he is supposed to be king, but he ran away because he says "Jesus is my king!" .. i didn't believe him at first until he started showing me pictures of his dad with African royalty wear and him too. So that was pretty cool. We met a girl from Spain who reminded me of Ana Santos :) and Rachie of course. Also we started teaching some guy from Russia who was super cool but he dropped off of the face of the earth. A few from slovakia and one from belarus (i only know how to spell that in czech) I guess in the summer people just stop being czech!  

I haven't shared something funny in a while, so heres this weeks. My first friend I made in Brno (apart from my lovely terezka who i knew in ceske budejovice) is a recent convert to the church. Last transfer we asked him to teach with us and the guy turns out to be pretty granola.. just really crunchy and hard to talk to. Im not judging but it was hard on our little vojtech. So we were trying to make up for it this week and got a really good one for him to teach with us. He ends up being sick, so we go to do a singing display and he walks with us-- we run into a guy we talked to the day before and had a lesson set up with him that night. So we just say hey, your here, we're here.. lets have a lesson now. So I turn to vojtech after saying a few things and ask him to share his experience with baptism. Vojtech just starts pouring out his soul and this guy yells sorry! and literally RUNS away. Vojtech just through his hands in the air and said whatever and went to go see the arnold swartz movie to feel better. Poor guy can't catch a break. I was laughing so hard i was in tears though. 

And the singing display afterwards I had one of those "is this real life?" moments when I ended up singing solos on the square. Not something you'd normally find me doing, ze jo? Anyways life is good. I'm tired but trucking along. Missing the archibalds! 

Have a good week! Mám vás ráda,

Sestra Holland

Week 42

Hey Everyone! 

Sorry if last weeks email was sort of depressing. Sometimes I feel like I'm just sending everything that has acclimated in a weeks time into a void and Im not sure who is reading it or if anyone is! We are truckin along- its about 100 degrees here. Don't worry mom, I am drinking lots of water and trying not to pass out. 

It was our first week without the Archibalds, and we were so bumbed we went into their empty appartment and weekly planned on their floor.

We played squash again with our friend Alan this morning - He also made my last companion and I drawings of birds (mine was an eagle, sister daugirda got an owl) as well as homeade tshirts with his bird drawings, which are his specialty. So I have sported my bird shirt a few times. 

This morning my companion welted me in the back of the leg with one of those squash balls - she may not be very good but she can really put some pepper on it. 

Coolest thing that happened this week, on sunday, I was setting up the translating stuff in the back and I went out for  a minute to help one of the members and I girl walks in. I had never seen her before and I went up and shook her hand - she was shaking and really nervous. When I grabbed her hand she wouldn't let go! And when I looked at her i just saw panic in her eyes. I bagged the translating stuff (my poor companion had never done it before and had to figure it out) and sat down with her during church. I explained what was going to happen and told her to relax and just watch. Then afterwards I took her outside and asked her what was wrong- someone really close to her had passed away - she has been passing our building for years now and always felt like she should come inside, just never had the guts to do it. And she did it! She was so brave! We met with her again and she is so kind, and needs the gospel so much! What a miracle!

I love you all! Happy 4th - God Bless America!

S laskou,

Sestra Holland