This week has been pretty crazy!
Lot's of thing happened and we saw lot's of miracles. The biggest event
of the week though was our trip to Priest Hill/Karlštejn!
This
is a summary sent to us by President and Sister McConkie : "July 2015
marks the 25th anniversary of the formal return of missionaries to the
Czech Slovak Mission. After forty
years of communism, the Velvet Revolution of 1989 prepared the way for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints to be recognized again in February 1990. The first missionaries
entered the country a few months later and the
mission was formally reorganized in July of 1990 when my (President
McConkie's) mission president and his wife, Richard and Barbara
Winder, arrived in Prague.
Last weekend, missionaries and members gathered to celebrate these
things at the site where Elder John A. Widstoe
of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles offered the July 24, 1929 dedicatory
prayer of what was then Czechoslovakia. The
dedication site is on Priest Hill, near the Karlstejn Castle. It is a
small, beautiful, hidden spot where members and
missionaries have gathered for many, many years. Elder Widstoe described
the spot as a natural temple. For all
those who attended this weekend's festivities, being at the monument
site very much felt like being in the temple.
During the original dedicatory services in 1929, it was noted that for
the missionaries serving in this mission, "working
in harmonie and in unison would bring success." Notes of Dedicatory
Service of 1929, p. 1. Indeed, Elder Widstoe
urged the missionaries to "conduct themselves in such a way that the
Lord may be able to help them." Id. Thus, it
has always been for the missionaries of this mission to access the
Lord's blessings by choosing unity and obedience
over disagreement and disobedience."
Friday was a super special day! Sestra Holland and I got up at 5:30am,
and the elders drove us in their car almost 3 hours to Prague where all
the missionaries in the whole Czech Republic met at the train station.
It was so cool, we all got on one train and basically took it over! We
went up to Karlštejn and had a picnic lunch, did some announcements, and
then hiked up the hill to the spot where the mission was dedicated. And
there was a surprise, a camera crew had come to film our celebration
because they want to use it in a mormon message! I don't really know any
more details than that, but we're excited to see what happens!
At
the top of the hill we had a really awesome, spiritual program. Musical
numbers, testimonies, talks, and then a moment of silence at the end. I
always get so re-energized by trainings, but this was a training like I
had never had before, it was amazing!
And then as everyone
was walking back down, no one was really paying attention to what time
it was, and then all of a sudden we only had 5 minutes to make it to our
train back! There was just a giant hurd of missionaries running down
the streets back to the train station, and we were all carrying packages
and boxes from mail and our orders. The people we were passing were
pretty confused, we all just thought it was funny. In the end we all
made it to the train and safely back to Prague. Then Ses. Holland and I
and the elders took roadtrip number 2 back to Brno. We got back just in
time for dinner and planning and bedtime. It was such a great
experience, I really hope my email can do it justice. :)
The
gospel is true everyone. This is the Lord's work and he is behind it
every step of the way. The Czech Republic has been preparing to have the
gospel for such a long time, and I am so blessed to be a part of it
now. It is amazing to see and hear the progress being made. I love this
work, I love the gospel, and I love the people of the Czech Republic.
I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for your love, support, and prayers, I can definitely feel them! Love you all!!
S láskou,
Sestra Schaerrer
PS - I'll send some pictures :)
Ses. Donaldson (visiting), Ses. Bailey and me with castle Karlštejn in
the background. And a train full of missionaries on the way back to
Prague! (right after we all just sprinted to catch the train!)
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