:D

Ahoj! 

Well this week we had another baptism in the branch! The elders awesome investigator Zdenek was baptized outside! It was such a pretty day and a wonderful service even though my companion and I had to sing a musical number. It was wonderful! Sunday Zdenek showed up late, and took the sacrament out in the foyer, he had the elders way nervous, ok all of us but especially the elders. But he was confirmed by elder Nelson, it is his first transfer, but he did a wonderful job! I have no idea how he knows so much Czech, i wasn't that good for a few transfers and he knows so much. Everyone is in awe with his abilities, it is awesome! 

Stanislav is crazy! I love him so much! He feels like he doesn't know enough information about the church and really wants to know everything. Everyone is surprised at how much he knows but he just isn't satisfied. We keep telling him it will come in time but he is very insistent that he doesn't know enough because we know more than he does. So he has been reading a minimum of three hours out of church books. We talked to him one day and he said he had already done five hours and had plenty more time that evening. You would think that he would have easily finished the book of Mormon by now but he hasn't. We are really fighting him because he feels the need to look up every single footnote given in the scriptures so he is starting Mosiah. WE have tried and tried to get him just to read through it and not use the footnotes and he can do it the next time he reads it. It is like pulling teeth! ha ha He talks about being kind of confused and not understanding what is going on because he is constantly flipping to stories he hasn't got any background on. So we finally made it a commitment and that was all we asked in that lesson. He said it was 50% that he wouldn't use them. So we ended up settling at that. The first day he didn't use them but he started talking about how it is just so tempting and he just has to use them. He is so funny! He taught with us this week, we prepared him before the lesson and gave him some background information on the less active we were teaching. We had asked him to bear his testimony and share his baptismal story. We were going to talk about baptismal covenants and partaking the sacrament to renew that covenant. Well we get in there with a little small chat and then Stanislav seizes the moment and starts talking about his baptism and telling his story and testifying and talking about how we need to come to church so we can renew our covenants and goes off on things we mentioned that worried him about coming back to church. It was a little scary but it was fine. It was like teaching with a child, they say everything they have heard, straight up and honest! ha ha It was way good though. He went in with guns blazing! ha ha Love it, can't wait to teach with him again. Stanislav has such a strong testimony and knows what is true. 

We were sitting down chatting and he began talking about how people will be judge according to what they know. He then began to express his concern and confusion about those who have joined the church but don't come anymore. He talked about how much these people know and how they have made covenants with God and how they need to come and why wouldn't they come? Don't they remember what they promised, don't they recognize the good and blessings of the gospel? It is so neat to see how much he understands and how strong he is and his great desire to help everyone else around him. He wants people to understand but it is hard for him when he teaches with us and people don't seem to understand. Stanislav caught on so fast and others aren't and it is kind of disappointing and frustrating to him, it just makes so much sense! haha he is so wonderful and is an amazing example to me. I am so blessed to know him and get to serve around him! We taught the lesson in relief society this week. it was from the conference ensign. It was called... hold fast to what you know? I honestly don't know what it was called. But he talked a lot about the importance of church and why we have each of the meetings and why we need them and how we are covenant making people and we need to keep our covenants and little decisions make a huge difference. It was a way good talk, you should read it. We related it to bowling and how when we were baptized we entered the alley and we need to keep the commandments (bumper lanes) to be safe if we don't we will fall into the gutter and it is hard to get back out of it. IF we don't make it back out we reach the end of life and don't get the great reward of a strike. We really emphasized coming to church and staying, renewing those covenants that we made at baptism. it was really fun! 

A few minutes before sunday school started, the teacher came up to my companion and I and asked us to sing a song. It was hymn 133 and he wanted us to sing it at the start. So we took it and figured it would be something we knew. It isn't. It is one of those hymns that you have heard maybe once or twice before. SO we are asked to sing and we start sight reading it basically and trying to read the Czech words. Luckily none of them have ever heard it before because they don't have it in their current hymn book, one of these days we will have a real hymn book, they just have one song left it sounds like! Woot. So we get up and start to sing it and the branch president stops the interview he is having in his office and comes out and listens. Then in RS the counselor comes in and says that the Branch president wants us to sing it for Priesthood. So we quickly go to priesthood and sing it and made it back just in time to sing it as the practice hymn in RS and then teach the lesson. ha ha so that was a surprise! 

We are meeting with a guy named Honza and he is AWESOME! He is really receptive and really seems to enjoy what we teach. As we were teaching he pulled a paper out of his wallet and he told us it was his theme and he keeps it with him all the time. It is Matt 7:7-8 

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

Little did he know that it was from the bible. He just really liked it and has always kept it with him. He is really amazing and wants to change and become better. He is so selfless, he does lots of service and is all about helping his friends and family. 

He is awesome and I just love teaching him! Well that is all that I have time for, I love you all so much and hope that you have a wonderful day! 

Love Sestra Hicken