MTC letter #2

Letter #2 HI! I can't believe it's been another week, I don't know where the time went. This week has been sooo much better than the first one. Everybody kept saying that you just have to make it to Sunday, and it was definitely true. Oh I forgot to tell you last week, we leave March 25 now, not the 26th, so I think I'll still be able to call you from the airport! We just buy a prepaid card here, and then I'm assuming we call at some point--I won't know the time until we get our itineraries. I got the photos, but don't have any way of printing them out, so it would be awesome if you could send a hard copy, also a more recent picture of the family, everybody keeps wanting to see them. Thanks so much for the packages, you are awesome. The trail mix and chocolate were so nice, I'm always hungry in between meals. The lines at dinner are ridiculous, so we've been leaving 10 min early from the classroom so that we can actually get food, I get what you meant about the cereal! My room is probably exactly the same as when you were here, long with 3 sets of bunk beds, the bathrooms are communal and ancient, definitely built in the 60s, same with our classroom building. I live in 3M and have class in 10M if you remember what campus looks like. Oh about the bags rule--it's because there are way too many missionaries, and they take up too much space. I guess my bag is fine cause it's more of a purse size, but they don't want big backpacks in the cafeteria or devotionals. Oh and the collapsable cup was a genius idea, thank you!! Do you think you could find a little thing of dish soap? They don't sell it here and my water bottle will get gross eventually. And I don't think I ever gave you the scripture for my plaque: I think I want Ether 12:6, I think that really expresses the hope that I want to share with others. We have to write a talk each Sunday in case we get called on, and this week's topic was enduring to the end, even though it was Fast Sunday so nobody actually gave it. But, I was looking up the word "endure" since that sounds so depressing, and it linked to steadfast, immovable, hope, and dependable. So then I started laughing and had the perfect personal experience to share with it haha. Hopefully that will translate when I get to give that talk in Czech at some point. Speaking of Czech, apparently I have a beautiful French accent, according to Sister Austin, one of our teachers. I just started laughing-I definitely predicted that one! She said it's not as strong as it was at first though, so that means my Czech is getting better, yay! And I'd much rather have a French accent than an American one--one of the Starsi (Elders) has a terrible American accent--I can even hear it haha. Oh my shoes--I've been wearing either the brown oxfords or my black boots every day since the other 3 aren't worn in and gave me blisters. I heard that if you put them on and use a blow dryer it softens them? So I might try that, no idea if it will work. Oh and we quote the Best Two Years like every day, it's the best thing ever. We were studying the Plan of Salvation lesson to teach it and I started cracking up cause I imagined the greenie saying: "Have you ever wondered where you come from, why you're here, and where your gooing?" hahaha love it. Oh we do still have "celestial service" but no one calls it that anymore, must have been an 80s thing haha. I didn't actually do it this Wednesday cause I was sick and slept in. It was just a cold though, so I was fine in a day or two, luckily I didn't get the flu or anything. What else....Oh you wanted to hear about my district. Can't remember what I wrote last week, so sorry if I repeat myself! I'll send a picture when we go to do laundry in a bit. There are 2 Slovak speaking sisters, Sestra Jones is from Wales and has an awesome accent, and Sestra Belibi Myna is from Lyon, France! Both of them speak French so I've been practicing, that's been really nice since I can actually communicate in French off the top of my head, not so much in Czech yet. However, I can bear my testimony, say a prayer and introduce myself in Czech without really looking which is awesome. Ethan was wondering about the investigators thing--so our first week we had "Petra", which I guessed was our teacher but they didn't tell us--she's actually Sister Austin. But what they do is figure out a persona to act as, usually someone they taught on their mission or someone they know really well, or a mix, so then we teach them as an investigator, and they respond as that person would. I thought it was a little weird at first, praying for "Petra" and asking for guidance from the spirit about what to teach her, when in the back of my mind, I knew that it's actually a member. But I've definitely gained a testimony of it, we had a really cool experience with her on Tuesday. So the lesson before this she had told us that she knows all about God and Jesus, but she doesn't understand why they would let her sister be sick with cancer, and not heal her, and then she asked us how the atonement was possible. So that was kind of hard. So after studying we felt like we should teach her about faith. So we prepared this whole lesson about faith and the plan of salvation, and were going to challenge her to pray. So we get there and asked her if she had any questions about Mosiah 24, since we had asked her to read that. She pointed at verse 15, and said I don't know if I want that. (about Christ lifting the burdens of Alma and his people when they are in bondage. So we asked why (this is all in Czech by the way) and she said pride, but we didn't understand and had to look up the word. But then she said, I want this for my sister. So I went completely off lesson plan and was flipping frantically thorough my TALL book to say what I wanted to say, that God has a plan for her and her sister, and that they can live together forever. So then I felt impressed to skip to the end of the lesson and ask her to read Alma 32, when it says that faith starts when you can only desire to believe, so I testified that that is her, and asked her if that was true, why she was meeting with us, and she said yes. And then Sestra Hicken bore her testimony (she wasn't really following what was going on) and I challenged her to pray and ask God if what we were teaching was true. And she did! She was whispering and I don't really understand Czech, so I have no idea what she said, but the spirit was there and she said it's true. So that was absolutely amazing, and it definitely felt real. I know that I needed that experience to give me confidence, and one day it will help me teach a real investigator in the Czech Republic. So I'm running out of time, I have to save some to upload pictures. The gospel is true! I love it here and I'm learning so much! Vim ze Buh je nas Nebesky Otec! Sestra Cooper (the pictures didn't come through)