January Events

When Heidi came to visit, she brought out a pair of boots that I had ordered from the states. This is what they look like. They keep my legs so warm! I LOVE them!

This morning Heidi left to go back to Tampa. We enjoyed having her with us for the last couple of weeks. While she was here, we had a violent flu run through the family. Steven and I were the only ones who made it through unscathed. But as sick as she was, Heidi was still able to travel to Krakow, Poland and Kutna Hora to see the bone church. She had a former missionary companion from Bulgaria to travel with, and they had a good time.










(From left to right:Brother Adams, Sister Adams, Sister Oaks, Elder Oaks, me, and President Slovacek)
This past weekend, we were privileged to host our area president--Elder Robert Oaks--and his wife, Gloria, for the Prague District conference. They drove from Germany with their good friends, the Adams. It was an inspiring weekend, listening to the speakers. The Oaks have fascinating stories from the time they served in Africa.

These are the new missionaries who arrived right before the Prague District conference. Elder Killpack, Sister Waite, and Sister Gapinski are a wonderful addition to our mission!











Matt and I took a train to Bratislava to witness the baptism in Slovakia. Pictured here is Elder Roylance and Elder Papworth with their new convert. Bratislava has the best halusky in Moravia, and Matt and I found a great Italian restaurant across from a cathedral in Old Town. Bratislava is the capitol of Slovakia. I love that city! It has a fascinating history.

Castles, a Czech Nutcracker, and Snow

To celebrate the new year, we drove out to Karlstejn--the site where the land of Czechoslovakia was dedicated for the spreading of the gospel in 1929. The castle on the hill looks down on the tiny village below. It's very imposing. We found some interesting art shops on our way back down the mountain, and vowed to come back shopping right before we finish our mission.












Last Saturday, the assistants and the office elders treated us to a performance of The Nutcracker at the National Theater. We were surprised (and pleased) that the elders wanted to see a ballet; and we all had a great time. We found The Nutcracker performed here to be an interesting mix of Dickens A Christmas Carol and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. The main character in the ballet was Scrooge. He was taken down to hell where he encountered the devil--a very muscular guy in red tights. The Ghost of Christmas Goodness rescues Scrooge from hell and what follows is a delightful 2 hour dance, quite like Clara's dream in the Nutcracker. It was fun to see the Czech's twist on two Christmas classics. Here we are pictured in the National Theater. What an amazing building! From left to right are Elders Mack, Streng, Johnson, and Johnson. Their mothers would be so proud.










The next day--Sunday--it snowed and left a beautiful blanket of white all over the city of Prague. These pictures were taken in our backyard park; except for the one where I'm standing in front of the chapel/ mission home.







The Prague castle is so beautiful in the winter. I have found myself loving this city in every season.

Oh! Here's some GREAT news! We have been working really hard on helping the missionaries with their finding and teaching skills. We've also raised the standards of excellence in the mission, and now we're starting to see results! In the next two months, we have more than 1/2 the baptismal commitments that we had in the entire year of 2007. The Lord is pouring out his blessings upon this people, and we are excited to be a part of this tremendous surge forward!