Mission Letter 06_10_13

Hello everyone,

Life here in Bratislava is going well :)

I am going to tell you a little bit more about the city and my life
here as missionary.
I don't know a lot still, but here is some info.

The city has been flooding like crazy! A lot of the bus stops are
sandbagged, and we aren't allowed to go to any of the parks or
anywhere near water. It rains a lot here. It's only recently started
to get sunny.
We live in the city in little apartment. :) we only have 2 beds, so
sestra sears sleeps on the floor. (despite sestra krauel's and I's
protests to have her take our beds). We have a nice open study room
with 3 desks, a little bathroom, and a kitchen, with a dining area. We
live right by a park and some really cool fountains. The Branch
President is also our landlord.

Everyday we get on the buses for transportation. We go to our church
building, which probably used to be some type of lawyers office or
something. It's such a special place :) The city is always very busy
and loud, but the church is quiet and the spirit is always there! I
feel like it's my own little bit of temple. Oh, how I miss the temple.
SOOO much.
We have been to church here now twice. Fast and testimony meeting I
shared my little meager slovak testimony. It was probably broken
slovak, but I think the members understood.
I LOVE the members here. They are so kind. I am trying to get to know
them, but the Slovak is very difficult for me to understand. It's
coming along though. There is one lady who always brings her dog to
church :)
I can tell you, Church here is MUCH different than it is back in Utah.
The people are much more diverse :) I love it. Even though there are
only about 30 members at church on Sunday, I have faith that the
branch here will grow.

On Saturday evenings we play soccer with the members and we're TRYING
to get investigators to come to soccer night too. Vlado always brings
us chocolate. This time he brought us kinder eggs, which are chocolate
eggs with toys inside. :) They're fun. Illegal in the USA, *choking
hazard*.
I also tried my first Kofola. (it's like the version of Coke that was
developed during the communist era when they couldn't get Coke here)
It's an acquired taste... :)

Other interesting things:
We just got a new investigator :) He is 10 years old. We are super
excited to teach him :). There are also 2 baptisms this Saturday.
Stanislav and Ivetta. Stan is one of our investigators, Ivetta works
with the 2 Elders here in Bratislava. I am excited for their baptisms
:) They already had baptismal dates when Sestra Krauel and I entered
the area, so we haven't worked with Stan much, but I am still excited
for him nonetheless.

I have been asked out by my first drunk 60-70 year old. Twas great.
Didn't understand a word he was saying to me other than something
about "I'm a doctor, lots of money, and he told me he was 62 and then
68, and something about pizza." Sestra Sears later told me that he was
trying to get me to go for coffee, then when we said we don't drink
coffee, he was like "pizza then?"

One of our recent converts (she was baptized 6 months ago) is SUPER
AWESOME. She is sooo witty and I love her. She was meeting with us the
other day and we were talking about how she can be a missionary right
now in school. She talked to us about Samuel the Lamanite and how he
is one of her favorite prophets from the Book of Mormon. She then
talked about facebook and said, "I think sharing on the wall was a lot
harder back then."  :) I found that quite witty :) it made my day.

Everyone in english stayed for the spiritual thought this week!
Usually only 2-3 will stay out of the 6-8 that come. We tried to show
how the Book of Mormon can answer questions of the soul. We addressed
the concern of "why do bad things happen to good people?"
We all have our choices in life, and we all make mistakes. God won't
take away our agency from us. We talked with them about this, and how
we can all choose to do good things. We then talked about trials and
how we can learn from the hard things that happen in life.

I am loving the Book of Mormon. You have to read from it every day.
EVERY day. I don't know how I didn't do that before my mission. It is
like bread and water to me now. I neeeeeeeed it :)
I love the example of the sons of Mosiah. (I just finished reading
Mosiah and am now starting into Alma) It amazes me that they pressed
forward with such great faith seeking to save "some" soul. They had
true desires to bring salvation unto the souls of men. They did not
fear Satan and his grasp on the hearts of the people :) Why? Because
they knew Jesus Christ. They knew His atonement. They knew they had
true power. I am learning more and more that great miracles come
through faith. Success is directly proportional to our diligence, our
commitment. and our FAITH. Each and every day I renew my faith because
I know I KNOW I KNOW that the people here in Slovakia need my faith
and I need their's. The members here are soooo supportive of the
missionaries. We are trying to get that support to turn into referrals
:)

If I could tell anyone anything about what I've learned in the last 2
weeks, it's that happiness can be found in our efforts. As long as you
give God the best you have to give, don't worry about the "fruits of
your labors". Some gardens take longer to grow, some seeds germinate a
little longer. But eventually, they grow :)

I love you all so so so very much. Thank you for everyone who prays
for me and my companions (Sestra Sears and Sestra Krauel). We receive
a lot of strength from you. You are all amazing. Please take advantage
of the temples that are so close to you :) They are such a blessing.
They are sacred :) I hope that you cherish them.

Love, Sestra Kane :)