Week 66

Ahojte!

This week was kind of hard. people are still in the holiday mood and we are trying to get everyone out of it. Its time to get back to work people! So we are on the streets a lot. But we saw a ton of cool stuff happen. Some people we talked to before the Christmases started getting in touch with us. And our former came to church this week! Its down right COLD right now. Im double scarfing and double everythinging. Like 3 drunk men tried to kiss my child this week so she's pretty bumbed. Its just part of the experience though. She's starting to laugh about it so thats good. AND today we met an older man who went to the yoga camps with one of the members from brno! I was super pumped cause i got to know gaud vojkuvka a little bit when i was serving there. The history of the church here is so cool! And you dont hear a lot about people who went to those camps and didnt become members of the church so im interested to talk to this muž. Have a good week everybody! Stay fresh

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 65

hi fam11 It was good to see you all on christmas1 todays another day i cant get the computer to change so this email will be a little strange. But no worries right_ So this week we had a beautiful christmas. 

On monday we went to sister daskovas house and she made us little kolač cake things and then ježišek came11 baby jesus came and brought us gifts11 we heard the bell ring and then we all covered out eyes and then there were four gifts under the tree. we opened them and i had new tights.. much needed. my tights are so worn that my heals and toes are completley exposed haha. so ježišek knew what sister holland needed1 I brought my guitar and afterwards we sang czech christmas carols. 

on tuesday we had training in brno. we got there in the morning and as a mission hit all the christmas markets and then in a hug group sang silent night ..simultaneously in czech and slovak which sounds a little strange.. but it was really cool. and then we all dispersed before the police might come1 We had a fantastic training from the mcconkies. 

On wednesday we went less active finding. mapped it out from our area book and went out to show our little narodil se spasitel movie. Its a good one1 We didnt have any real cool experiences from that .. one guy let us show it to him at his doorstep and he was a really nice guy just not interested in coming back. And then that night we surprised visited Petias mom.. petia is a member 18 yrs old and so great1 she was in egypt for christmas but her mom and older sister where home so we shared the video with them and her mom told us that she wants us to start coming over more. It seemed like the christmas message really affected her .. so cool1 

on thursday sister baxter and i went over to brno where Erik got baptized. He is so darling. It was a beautiful baptism. His dad baptized him and a lot of members came to support even when it was christmas morning. Then that evening we went and visited a member and then had our christmas dinner with a former investigator of ours. Shes great . 4 courses of carp fish served in different ways- i think first was a soupl and then appetizer was carp patties with tomatoes and then there was the deep fried carp. basically the whole meal you are pulling bones out of your mouth. We had pernik and some apple muffiny at the end. We did all the christmas traditions - we opened walnuts and cut apples to see our fate for the next year - FUNNIEST part was when she stood under the misletoe and asked to all come over and give her a kiss on the cheek. Sister Baxter and I went a gave her a kiss on the cheek and then i just kind of sat down and enjoyed watching what the elders were going to do next. One of the rigid elders stands in front of her and just starts sweating and got really nervous. hes still working on his czech so his answer was something along the lines of -I want to but i dont know if I can!- it was so funny.. that made my christmas eve.

on christmas day we went to the alzhiemers home and sang. the elders asked us to sing angels we have heard on high and we told them we would. but we wanted to do something a little more spicy so we made a dance to jingle bell rock and just started singing it without telling them. it was pretty funny. good thing the old people probably wont remember it. 

Today we went to a really cool castle called rokštejn with petia and ondra - two members in the branch. 

It was a great christmas week and so great that I got to see all your faces on skype! Love you and have a good week!

S laskou,

sestra Holland

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!)