Conference

Well Howdy! 

This week has been awesome! We had basically everything cancel or fall through/had lots of traveling, but tons has come together in terms of our office and getting everything done here before one of us leaves, so that is good. We now have chairs in our office and a picture of Christ. A tv so we can watch the restoration and life is just great in that aspect! 

Tuesday we had training in Prague it was way awesome! We had a great training on the basics and changing your situation/attitude and not being content/frustrated about what is going on. We then had the amazing opportunity to go the Bethlehem Chapel and have a tour. We learned all about Jan Hus, a reformer here in the late 1300- early 1400. He was not a fan of how priests were running the catholic church and was trying to change it. He ended up getting burned at the stake for what he did. I have heard that as he was getting burned he stood there singing hymns. He is a huge reason that we are able to be here as missionaries today, he kind of opened the way. It was really neat to go and learn about him. 

Thursday we had a musical concert in Liberec for the elders area there. It was great. President came and played on his violin and we had lots of singing and thoughts between on the restoration. It was wonderful. Even better was that Vlastik our investigator was working in a city not to far away and he made the extra effort to come. I was afraid he was hating it because he didn't look way happy. When I was up singing I would make eye contact with him and smile and he would stay stone faced (hence the reason I like looking at children, they always smile back or do something funny. :D). Afterwards though he said he was surprised by it. We asked if it was good or bad and he said good. So hopefully that is ture. I am exited for him to get back this week so we can meet with him. I am so worried for him with transfers coming up. It is going to be way hard on him, he hated exchanges. We probably should have prepared him, but he has been gone! Ahh! 

Sunday we had District conference in Prague - this is stake conference, just we don't have a stake. Any who, that was awesome because I was able to see mostly everyone in the branches that I have served in! So great!!! The meeting was wonderful too, I learned lots but the opportunity to talk to the people that I love and have served was definitely a highlight! 

*I had previously written a letter to Sister Vokalova, a member from HK, and after the meetings, I went and talked to her. She is so wonderful. We chatted and laughed for a good 15-30 minutes. I had no idea I could do that or that I had that much to say to her! She told me all about how my letter had lifted her and made her so happy. She mentioned that she got it during a really hard time for her and it really brought her up. It is so amazing what a random thought to write someone can do. Who knew that it was a prompting to write her. It is amazing the Lords timing and how he can prompt us to do something in advance so that by the time the letter gets into her hands it is exactly what she needed at the time. I love this gospel! But yeah she told me all about how she is still working with family history and getting ready for the temple and how excited she is. 

*After the meeting, one of the little girls from HK came up to me and gave me a picture she had drawn for me. She is so sweet! It was great. She came up and found me, picked me out of the crowd to give me the picture. Made me feel so loved! 

*As I walked in, a man from CBud came up to me and began talking to me. It was so great, he remembered me! I wish I could have talked to him more, I was just so busy talking to so many people, you would have thought I was out going or something! 

*Investigators from HK came up to me and began talking to me telling me all about everything. Even some of the Elders investigators. It is truly amazing the lives you touch and even more so the lives that touch yours. I never realized just how much I loved the people in these areas until I had the opportunity to stop and talk with them again! 

*Stanislav looking up at us in the middle of Elder Olsen (of the seventy) talking about how Preach My Gospel is in Czech and mouthing the words I don't have it and giving us a look like HOW DARE YOU NOT GIVE THIS BOOK TO ME! ha ah it was so funny! He is so anxious to know and have everything! He is such an example to me. -They had a meeting specifically for recent converts. We asked Stanislav how it went and he said, oh it was great! I told them all about how I met you and... ha ha 

*Perhaps the biggest highlight of the entire week was when a less active in Sister in MB came to the conference!!!!!!!! This is the first time she has come the entire time we have been here. We are really good friends with her and we love each other to death, it was so AMAZING to see her there! 

   -Back story on that one. Earlier this week was her birthday. We were going to take her cookies but she wasn't there on her birthday and we weren't able to day after day and then we got the time but we headed out and felt bad about it so we didn't go. Finally Saturday we made it there with the cookies and we just chatted. She told us she wouldn't come to the conference. We went on chatting about the gospel and different things. She talked about how she is just worn out, she used to travel so far to church and so on. Eventually my awesome companion Sister Schoen said something about how hard it is to expect our investigators to come to church when the members wont even come. We continued chatting and then headed on our merry way. About an hour or so later we got a text from her saying that she was coming to church with another less active so we wouldn't be sad. It may not be the best reasoning for coming, but it is a start. When she got there everyone was so happy to see her. We hope and pray that she will continue to come. MIRACLES are everywhere. 

How was the general womens meeting? I am not sure if I will get the chance to watch that or not, sure hope so! General conference is this weekend! You will have to tell me all about it because it will still be a little bit before I hear about it! I am so excited! WOOT! Keep the faith and more forward! I LOVE YOU!!!! 

Sestra Hicken

Our office, the coloring is horrible in this picture, it really isn't so yellow looks so much better than before!

my district with our "minionaries"- Nelson, Cizek, Scherf, Romrell, Schoen, me

Jan Hus drawing and his original writing from the 1390's not much is left of it (but it was about how priest shouldn't be paid)