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
