Ahoj!

Awesome week! Here are some updates! Got to love working for the Lord, He is the best employer! 

 Sister Semianova came to church in her new dress! She is really loving the gospel and said she was going to come on the bus with us if Sister Zajickova couldn't také her. We are just reteaching her all the lessons so we get better at teaching and she gets a good refresher. She loved learning about it and watching the Restoration. She has been reading in the book of Mormon regularly. She is studying different topics. Her first topic was prophets and she wants to study repentance next. She is amazing and it is so neat to see the joy in her life as she comes back to church. While we were there, a man kept ringing her buzzer but wouldn't answer when she tried to talk to him. We were so glad that we were there for that as it is not normal and I think it would have made her very uneasy being there alone with that happening. So neat! 

We had a breakfast in Jicin on saturday morning and there weren't many people there but the Simkovi came! They seemed to enjoy it. (what little of it we saw, our bus left a little early and we weren't on it. Since it was a saturday buses don't run often. So about 50 minutes later we catch a bus and show up to eat fast and clean up. it was good. ha ha) WE are excited to keep activites frequent and get people coming, it will be wonderful! 

We have tried to visit Sister Bursova many times and she is never willing to let us up or is gone. We called her this week and after a long pause she said we could come over...right now. So we did. We got there and just chatted. She showed us family pictures and in the end we shared a short thought and asked if we could come back later. She said yes. She said she would come to church if someone with a car had room and invited her. So she came sister Zajickova yesterday, woot! When talking with the ward later, they said they had actually asked missionaries not to visit, and were really surprised when she let us up. YEAH for being naive! 

We have had the biggest struggles getting out to visit one of our sweet less actives, Sister Ginova. The buses never seemed to work for us. WE'd send the text and it would say one time, the bus station would say another and our member would say something else. So we finally got out there and she told us all about her awesome experiences with missionary work. She has such a strong testimony and knows the gospel, she just isn't active. She has a son who has been struggling and it is really hard on her. So after praying about what to do to help him she felt like she should send him a book of mormon. She did so and some pamphlets. A little while later she got a letter back from him with his testimony saying he knows it is true and he loves it. She is really excited about that. Also her nephew wants to start coming back to church and go to the temple this year. (the last time we were supposed to go and visit her, she had prepared lunch and David, her nephew, was there waiting and excited. well the bus didn't work so we didn't make it.But we plan to meet with him this week.) Her husband also wants to come back but he is struggling with smoking. So we are going to see what we can do to work with them. We are always so amazed at the doors that the Lord is opening for us. 

We stopped by and took Sister Marksova dinner this week. Bread bowls and chicken noodle soup, so different than anything the czechs are used too. It was funny. SHe was so unsure what to do with it! She is a sweetheart. We love meeting with her. 

Tomasz didn't make it to church this week, he had a migrane. We stopped by to visit him in the evening, bring him some muffins and share a quick scripture. After sharing the scripture and talking about how we need to be a light to others by our examples. He teared up and thanked us and told us how grateful he was for us. He then explained that his friend was telling him that faith and actions don't matter, nothing matters. He was trying to testify that it does but was really having a hard time with things so he just started to pray. Asking for God to send him something, asking for help. It was about that time that we rang his zvonek. He then testified that he knows the gospel is true and that God does hear and answer our prayers. It is so neat when we can be answers to peoples prayers! I love it! 

Stanisalv is amazing! We have been meeting with him for a little over a week and at the start he said religion makes sense in my head I just don't feel it. At our meeting last night we were asking him how he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and other things. He said it is inner... and then said I can't explain it, I just feel it inside, I know it is right. He talked about how he has gone to other churches and the spirit is just different, it just doesn't feel right. He didn't make it to church this week because of satan in the form of electronics. His alarm didn't go off. We talked to him about how we want him to be ready for baptism and so we wanted to move his baptismal date back a week. He just looked at us and said, it is becasue I didn't come to church today. We also haven't taught him the word of wisdom but he told us about how he was offered 2 liters of beer and he rejected it. Said it wasn't hard. He also said he is working on stopping smoking. He says he used to be at 12 a day and is down to 4 or 5. He went on and said and no wine, coffee or tea or drugs. We have no idea how he knows this stuff. It jsut goes to show that we are not the teachers, the Spirit is and when people are prepared they know what they need to do. It is so amazing how quickly he has changed and to see his true desire to be better and improve. He is amazing and I learn so much from him. It is such a blessing to get to teach him. 

Wish I could write more but I can't! We are loving working here together in Mlada Boleslav and can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us! We hope that you have a wonderful week! There is a God, He knows us personally, he helps us daily and he loves us! Look for Him and thak Him by your actions and words! :) Love you tons! 

 Sestra Hicken