I never thought this day would come

And so we are at the end of our mission. Back in 2007, three years seemed like it would be forever; but in fact, three years was just a blip on the radar screen of life. It went so fast! There are no words that can adequately describe what we experienced while serving in the Czech Prague Mission. The people, the culture, the missionaries, all added to our adventure, and our lives have been forever changed. We have loved, laughed, cried, torn out our hair, worried ourselves sick, preached, hugged, comforted, fed, prayed over, rejoiced, stood in amazement, and shivered with excitement for each missionary who passed our way. We have loved them all, and the members became our dearest friends

We are back in Tampa now (after a much needed vacation on the way home), but are looking forward to the mission reunion in October. Thank you for all your support while we have been away. I can hardly believe it's over, but we no longer wear black name badges, and we are back into our khakis and flip flops, so it must be over. In a couple of weeks, it will seem like it was all a dream. But the Czech Prague Mission will be forever in our hearts.
Buh bud s vami nez se sejdem zas.

Pictures from Around the Mission

Alena Pilkova and Petra Horakova--two beautiful women from the Czech Republic

Sister Jedlickova from Liberec, serving in Prague

Elder Hicken and President Slovacek

Prague and Hradec Kralove zone conference

In Brno, the Super Sisters--Miller and Richards--put together a Spring Concert. Our missionaries were asked to participate. Here they are, in all their glory:

P-Day at Karlstejn

Here's the group at the dedication site.

Elders Fruehan and Hatch found a wig vendor on the way back down from the castle. Nice look for P-Day.

I liked Elder Vomocil's shirt.

Elder Monk's Hair

This is a fun one. We had a busy weekend and stopped in Olomouc to see how things were going. That's when we saw this:


Elder Monk decided to give himself a haircut. Fortunately, he stopped when he saw how much he had cut, but his new hairstyle was still pretty shocking. I told him my black, waterproof mascara might be able to help.


I think it turned out pretty nicely. He called me a few days after zone conference and asked what type of mascara he should buy. Here's hoping he won't need to wear it too long!

Leadership Training in Brno

Assistants to the President: Elders Hatch and Doxey.

Olomouc Zone: Elders Anderson, Lance, McGowen, Mills, and Pearson or "Papa Smurf" as he is lovingly called by his district. (Elders Anderson and McGowen are the zone leaders.)

Slovensko Zone:Elders Fish, Melling, Larson, Wilson, Emerson, and Read. (Elders Wilson and Fish are the zone leaders.)

Hradec Kralove Zone: Elders Thompson, Rigby, Jones, Mittanck, and Briggs. (Elders Briggs and Thompson are the zone leaders.)

Prague Zone: Elders Roubicek, Hicken, Andersen, and Nestman. (Elders Hicken and Andersen are the zone leaders.)

Last week we had leadership training for all the zone and district leaders in the mission. They are amazing young men! Because President Slovacek and I can't be with all of the missionaries all of the time, we depend on our leaders to keep the missionaries motivated and the work moving forward when we are away.

April Transfer

Yeah, you can tell they really love each other. We finally got them to behave so we could take a nice picture.
Oh how I wish they could've stayed! It's so hard sending our beloved missionaries home!
Front row, left to right: Elder McFarland, Sister Anderson, Sister Magidson, Sister Austin, Elder Hadzik. Back row, left to right: Sister Slovacek, Elder Erickson, Elder Lindsay, Elder Haberman, Elder Boles, Elder Maw, Elder Brown, Elder Kartchner, Elder Williams, and President Slovacek.
Here are the new arrivals. See how nice they look? We love them already!



Elder Haberman and Elder Boles were exhausted after our dinner and testimony meeting the night before they left for home. I think they are singing the Czech Prague Mission song here, but I'm not sure.

Cesky Raj/Bohemian Paradise

We love this place! We took the office on an excursion to Cesky Raj for P-Day a few weeks ago. From the bottom up: Elder Mittanck, Elder Anderson, Sister Anderson, me, Elder Foster, Heidi Slovacek, Elder Hatch, Sister Foster, Elder Vivona (at the very top). I'm not sure why Elder Fruehan is not in this picture.
Hey look! We found Elder Fruehan!

President Slovacek was the photographer. Here he is getting a good shot of us. I took a picture of him taking a picture of us.


Every time we looked up, we would see Elder Vivona standing high above us among the rocks.

A trip to Olomouc, Czech Republic

We have been on the road quite a bit, trying to see all the branches before we leave at the end of June. We had a branch conference in Olomouc a couple of weeks ago and took the Andersons, our office couple, with us. We had a wonderful time.

Birthday Celebration

April is our birthday month. We have a grandson Tobin who was born on April 2.

The next day, April 3 is mine, and on April 10 is President Slovacek's birthday. This year for our birthdays, we decided to climb Priest Hill(Knezi Hora)and see the spot where the land of Czechoslovakia was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by John Widtsoe in 1929. It's a beautiful hill beyond Karlstejn Castle, so it was quite a hike, but we made it!
When we arrived back at the mission home, the Prague District missionaries made us a fabulous lunch and entertained us with a birthday song and dance. It was quite an event, and a birthday we will never forget.

Saying Good Bye to Winter

It was getting to the point that I never thought this day would come--saying goodbye to winter. Finally I feel safe in putting away the winter clothes. I can polish my boots and put them away, or give them away. (Who wears winter boots in Florida?) Here are some winter scenes from January.




You might think we took these in black and white--but no we did not. The day was really that dark and gray. Actually, it was very scenic in an austere kind of way. It made us pensive as we drove this dreary wonderland with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "I'll go where you want me to go" on the CD player. And then, a couple of weeks ago, the sun came out. HELLO sunshine! It's so good to see you!

The Robbins leave us and the Fosters come

We were so sad to see the Robbins go! They were the Outreach couple for Prague, and were fantastic at their job. The youth and all those who worked with them loved them! We loved them!
The Fosters have come from Utah to take their place. They are wonderful people who have quickly won the hearts of all the people of Prague and Hradec Kralove. We are so blessed to associate with such great couples on our mission. We love and appreciate them all!

Kosice, Slovakia

Kosice is a beautiful city that is farthest away from the mission home. We drive more than 9 hours to get there, but it is always worth it. Not only do we love the missionaries and members, but in Kosice you can find some of the best hot chocolate in the world!

Aren't they cute? These are the elders in Kosice, Slovakia. From left to Right: Elders Bodily, Walker, Melling, Evans, and Brown.

Sights around the mission

Elders Hatch and Mittank are the assistants; and Elders Fruehan and Vivona run the office.
Elder Anderson is our financial clerk.
President Slovacek took these pictures in the evening when the lights of Prague castle were just coming on.

Mission-Wide Women's Conference

On March 5-6th, we held a mission-wide women's conference in the Brno building. It was so exciting to see the building filled to over-flowing with women from all 18 branches throughout the mission.


Elder Kerr and his wife came from Scotland to be our guest speakers. They kept the women spellbound with their stories and experiences.
When I spoke, I asked the women to stand and give each other a hug. It was a very sweet moment. Many women tried to hug every person in the room.

Sister Kolkova is the Brno District Relief Society president. She, with her counselors, did much of the work on the conference. They are amazing women.
These three from Liberec are marking their scriptures during a break.
These are the women from Zilina, Slovakia.



We had more women than we planned on, so we added another workshop at the last moment. President Slovacek was kind enough to teach. The women loved having the mission president teach them from the Book of Mormon.

At the end of the conference, I was given a sash with pictures of the women from the mission on it. It will always be a treasure to me.