Hello Everyone,
Well,
I have no idea what the weather has been like wherever you are, but
here in Slovakia for the past 3 days it's been rainy and cold! Which is
really weird because I was reading in my journal about this time of year
last year, and it was so hot I thought my shoes would melt to the side
walk!
Anyway, this past week was pretty great. We've met
with a few new investigators who have families, which would be really
awesome for the branch here in Kosice. There aren't really any families,
so it would be awesome if they get baptized!
We also had
kind of a worrisome situation where I was almost deported. Haha not
really. But because we got a new mission president, he didn't know how
long I had already been in Slovakia. And I don't have a Slovak visa,
only Czech. So for a while we thought I was going to be emergency
transfered back to the Czech Republic or something. But a few days ago
President Pohorelicky talked to the lawyer here in Slovakia and she said
that when people, mainly police, ask me how long I've been here, I have
to say how long it's been since I was last in the Czech Republic, which
was like June 20th or something, and I'm not allowed to say how long
I've actually been here, which is since February. So it's an interesting
situation, but hopefully everything will be fine and I'll be able to
serve here in peace.
On Friday
we had a day of service. We first went to Ses. Burdigova's house and
helped her clean. She's an older woman who can't really take care of her
apartment by herself. Which is dumb because her son lives with her and
mooches off of her and doesn't clean a thing. So we helped clean her
carpets. Which involved dipping a brush into a water and vinegar mix and
then brushing the dog hair out of the carpet with said wet brush. It's a
method I've never seen before, but I guess it works...
Then
we went and helped Eva again with this little circle garden thing she's
doing. We've removed the old tree, put in a new one, and we planted
probably 60 lavendar plants. It looks really good, and it makes the
whole neighborhood look better.
Other than that things
have been normal here. Oh, I also have decided to only speak Slovak. I
was going back and forth on whether I should speak Czech or Slovak
because I was originally called to speak Czech and to serve in the Czech
Republic. So I was going to stick with Czech. But I've been serving in
Slovakia almost 5 months now, and I'm going to finish my mission here in
Slovakia, so I've decided that my call was "changed according to the
needs of the mission president" and that because I'm teaching Slovak
people in Slovakia, I should speak Slovak. It's actually going really
well because I already understood everything, I just had to actually
speak it. Before I was probably already speaking about 50% Czech and 50%
Slovak, and since I decided to speak Slovak I probably speak about 80%
Slovak and 20% Czech, because somethings still come out more naturally
in Czech. But I've also started reading the Book of Mormon in Slovak,
and I'm hoping I can finish it before the end of my mission. I have to
read about 10 pages a day, and so far it's going well. I think it's
actually easier for me to read the Book of Mormon in Slovak anyway (I
was doing it in Czech before).
The gift of tongues is
definitely real. Before I decided whether to speak Czech or Slovak, I
would have a hard time speaking in Slovak whenever I tried. Then I
received a blessing that talked about being confident in my decisions,
and so I decided to speak and study Slovak, and ever since I made the
decision, it's been much easier. God blesses us, and He answers our
prayers, but I've found a lot of the time He lets us make the decisions
because He trusts us.
Have a wonderful week everyone, I'll be sure to add some pictures. :)
s laskou,
Sestra Schaerrer
Pictures :) Us with our sweaters and umbrellas in the middle of July,
the sunset the other day, and our completed service project (almost, it
needs more wood chips).
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