The hard times come but so do the good times x10!‏

What a week! We started it off with a vylet with Filip. Filip may have skipped school to take us. So we rode the bus out there to Bela pod Bezdezem and walk over 5 miles to the Bezdez castle. It was so neat and really quite a nice day! It was a lot of fun to walk around and just chat about life. This month is huge for balls (late teens-adults) and carnivals (for the children). Filip went to a ball with his parents and friends and so we got to hear all about it! He invited us to go but we didn't feel like we could get it approved and it probably wouldn't be the best atmosphere, dancing and music. I would have loved to go though! 

Monday we had a meeting with Vlastik. He has told us over and over again that he wont take the book of Mormon until... well our lesson with him was not going anywhere we wanted it to. He had brought us a book with pictures and history in the Czech republic with castles and so on and he just wanted to talk about that. Somehow we ended up on American literature. So in a struggle to find a connection to change the topic to the gospel, I pulled out the Book of Mormon and set it on the table. Hoping he'd say something that I could connect a verse to. I opened it up and kind of flipped through the pages, after a little bit I got discouraged and closed it. I began to really listen to what he was saying he asked a question about some book, I hadn't ever heard of it and while my companion answered, Vlastik slid the book he brought so it sat in front of me and he reached across the table and grabbed the book of Mormon from me and started flipping through the pages himself. He was half listening to what Sister Schoen was telling him, but when he caught a break he said, something here caught my eye, can I read it? We were like of course! So he read Mosiah 16. Realizing just how good it was he flipped to 1 Nefi 1 and began reading the book heading. We talked and testified about the importance of scriptures and then offered him the book of Mormon. He still declined, but it wasn't as firm as before. So we testified a little more and what do you know, he ended up taking it! Woot! We met with him on Friday and he had read through 1 Nefi 13. We had some great conversations about the book of Mormon. He tries to not act interested but he is. We asked him if he liked it and he nonchalantly said, ya. We are so excited to meet with him again this week! He is so great! 

Constantin no longer lives in the Czech republic, he doesn't have work here any more. So he is back home with his family. His wife was baptized last month and his sister in law will be baptized in a couple of weeks! It is so amazing to see the work moving forward! It is amazing how the Lord connects everything together to make everything work PERFECTLY! 

So remember that one time we were running around the hospital looking for Stanislav (the day of his first baptism) and there was a lady that helped us. We later ran into her on the street and this week we actually got to meet with her. Alla is AMAZING! She basically believes everything we do and has been praying to find a church. She is really connected to the church that she has back at home in Ukraine. (She found out from the bible that baptism was to be done by immersion and basically with a lot of struggles and effort got her priest to allow her to be baptized by immersion even though that is not the way they do it in their church) She is amazing but VERY busy. She probably has the biggest faith in God than I have ever seen. She initially said she couldn't come to our church but as we were coming to the end of our lesson she said, I really want to come to your church. I am going to pray and God will make a day that I can come to your church. She is such a sweetheart and truly is searching for the truth. 

We finally got to go out and visit Sister Ginova this week. She is so hard to visit because she is busy and then the bus times and our schedules just don't work out when she has time. Well miracle of miracles, David Kovac her nephew and also a member was able to come over and we were able to meet with both of them. Even greater miracle, David's girlfriend, our investigator Mariana was there too! So that was a blessing from the Lord. It was such a great lesson on faith and repentance not to mention they all kept their commitment and came to church for all three hours! Woot!!! In the middle of our lesson, David looked up at us and told us, "I have a co worker, he doesn't smoke or drink. He is religious and he lives in Mlada Boleslav. I think he'd really enjoy meeting with you. The Holy Ghost just told me that I could get his number at work and give it to you at church." I must say I was very shocked. He just sits there listening with perfect posture head slightly bowed and he just has this look on his face that I can't tell if he is glaring or what is going on. Up until this point I wasn't sure if he liked what we were saying or if he was really unhappy with us. ha ha but he went on and bore his testimony and shared personal experiences with us. He has such a strong testimony and is so amazing! 

Thursday Stanislav was baptized! He spent the entire day at the church grounds raking up the leaves. He kept saying he was going to spend the entire day there because he would be safe, he wasn't going to let anything stop him from his baptism. He began to warn us telling us that we had better make it safely because if we didn't make it he wasn't going to get baptized. He said we HAD to be there for it. So even though the elders tried to stop us, we made it. To make a long story short, "we" decided to follow the gps that wasn't even taking us to the correct destination instead of following the members that knew where they were going. So 15 minutes late we showed up and they were all waiting on us. The water was low, not even waist high and it was freezing cold (as that is how they do it at the saunas). But all in all it was a great meeting. Stanislav didn't want to leave, he could have stayed at the sauna all night long. On Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and afterward was asked to bear his testimony. He did such an amazing job! It was the best testimony I have heard from him and it was SOOO powerful. He started off talking about how this gospel has changed his life so much and then went on to say I know the church is true, that it is the one and only true church on this earth. I know that Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that we have a prophet today, Thomas S Monson. and he went on. It was so amazing! I just get the chills thinking about it. 

I just want to add my testimony to his, that I too know that this is the true church of God, there is no way that I could be out giving my all everyday trying to help people accept the opportunity to learn about it if it wasn't. There is no way I could stand to be away from my family for this long if it weren't true, if I didn't have my own testimony of these truths. It is so amazing that our church is not based off of blind faith, rather it is based off having a personal experience with God. That is what Joseph Smith did, that is what I did and that is what I invite everyone to do everyday and that is what Stanislav chose to do. I am so grateful for this amazing privilege, it truly is an honor and I look forward to each day. Waking up at 6:30 everyday isn't a struggle when you understand the work you are called to do. In teaching the gospel, it doesn't matter how good of a teacher you are or how well you can speak the language, what matters is your personal conversion, when you are truly converted, when you know it is true, you can say what you know in slaughtered Czech or whatever language it is and they will understand because the Spirit will carry the message to their hearts. It is so true that those who want to understand will understand. That is why Stanislav progressed so fast. He received the Holy Ghost and became a member of the ONLY true and living church exactly two months from the day we met him. Anything is possible when you are doing the Lords work, never doubt Him, give your all. Look for someone to help. Whether it be by service, being an example or saying truth, share the gospel. Do you know what you have? Do you understand what that means? I invite you to find out for yourself, go ahead, try it, have a personal experience with God. It is something you will never forget, something you will never regret. 

I love you so much! 

S Laskou, Sestra Hicken

Stanisalv in the hospital- he was so excited to get a book of Mormon again!

Stanislav is working for the church cleaning the grounds- he spent the entire day on the grounds the day of his baptism because it would be safe.

Stanislav before his baptism