Sister Kane In Slovak 06_17_13

I am never coming back to Provo !! :)  I love it here. :)
Oh, how I have missed DIVERSITY! I am finally starting to adapt a
little bit. I have a strong desire to be Slovak :) despite my French
roots ;)
I love that everyday I get to meet and talk with people from all walks
of life and all types of backgrounds. Life is beautiful :)

Of course, there are things I miss about America, but there will be
things to miss about all great things in life. That's what makes them
so great :)

Events of the week:

1. Elder Clark and Elder Guymon are pretty hilarious. They are the 2
Elders in our district. Elder Clark said this week to Elder Guymon,
"Elder, asking me which meat I want on my sandwhich is like asking me
which air I care to breathe!"
We all got a good laugh out of it.

2. We keep having interesting experiences with the "men" here...
One man tried to dance with Sestra Sears. One cursed at us. One tried
to kiss us all on the cheek haha (typical Slovak greeting so
absolutely nothing wrong with it, unless you are a sister missionary
of course), and as we spoke about truth with one man on the street he
informed us that "truth is everywhere. I can see truth in your eyes
right now." Oh boy. Watch out.

3. WE GOT SEPARATED! We were on a tram headed to go contacting when,
Sestra Sears got off the tram and well... Sestra Krauel and I did not.
Needless to say, the next hour ended up being a stressful/frantic
search to find our lost companion. In our broken Slovak, we made it
back to our apartment and borrowed our Neighbors phone to try and call
Sestra Sears. LUCKILY she had the phone with her when she got off. Our
neighbors got quite the kick out of us. I managed, in my broken
Slovak, to say "We are three sisters. One, two, three. Number 3 is
lost. May we use your phone to call her?" among some other things. Our
neighbors are super nice :) they helped us find her and it all turned
out okay.  Oh the stressful life of public transportation.

4. Our baptisms didn't happen this week :(
Hopefully soon.  We should have one on July 20th for sure :)

5. LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of contacting. I like to contact on the
bridge. People can't run away from you :)  My companions also get a
kick out of me... because we get contacted by people ALL the time
trying to sell us tickets to something, or kofola, or jehovah's
witnesses and I just contact them back :)

6. We had someone come to church this week!!!!! And he isn't even
meeting with the missionaries yet, we just took him on a building tour
last week and he was interested :) I am so excited to teach him. We
have been having a really hard time trying to get people to church.

7. We are teaching in French, English, Slovak, and we have 1 man we're
working with who is deaf so we have to write everything down on paper
and teach him through the scriptures. It's quite an interesting method
:) We are meeting with more people that are not Slovak than are
Slovak. It makes teaching very interesting, because you HAVE To teach
SIMPLY, since NO ONE is speaking in their native language :)

8. We played soccer with a bunch of Greek Dentists this Saturday.
Can't say I've ever done that before.

9. We are teaching investigators with investigators this week :)
heehee :) Super excited.

10. The members here are an inspiration to me. They work so hard and
they are amazing. I love them.

Spiritual Insights from the week:

1. "A mission is a family affair" - President Monson. I absolutely
love my family! Thank you all for supporting me and I hope your lives
are being blessed. I pray for you. I love you. I am grateful to have
you be a part of my mission.

2. I am reading the talks from the Priesthood Session, since I haven't
been able to yet. I would highly recommend "Your sacred duty to
minister" by David L. Beck and "4 Titles" by Pres. Uchtdorf. I am
always amazed by Pres. Uchtdorf's example of Christlike humility and
patience. I believe he truly understands how to be happy in the
moment, and to be content with a little progression at a time. I am
trying to be more like him.
As missionaries we offer a unique opportunity to the world. Anyone can
learn about Jesus Christ; we say "come learn and APPLY the teachings
of the master" :) and let us help you do it!  "The restored gospel of
Jesus Christ blesses lives not just when we believe it - but much more
when we live it." - Pres. Uchtdorf

3. QUESTION: (mom, mainly for you.) why is it Gabriel (i.e. Noah) that
plays such a significant role in the coming forth of both John the
Baptist and Jesus Christ? He appears to both Mary and Zacharias.  I
have been trying to figure this out. I need to learn more about Noah.

4. Jesus is the Christ. I love the section about parables from Jesus
the Christ. I have been studying a lot about Gardens lately, because
we have an investigator who LOVES to garden. I find it fascinating
that the most significant even in the history of the world took place
in a Garden. (Gethsemane). Also, that Adam and Eve were placed in a
Garden, of all places. It seems to me that "growing" is a large part
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God cares about nature much more than
we think He does.
I read the parable about the "4 soils" from Elder Talmage's book and
now, when I contact, I start to see people as soils :)  Might this
person be the fertile soil ready to accept the seed and grow into a
"tree of life" (as Elder Holland would say from last conference)? Are
they the thin soil with a hard rock bed, that maybe just needs a
little more digging?

5. A mission will teach you more about yourself than you ever wanted to know :)
I though I knew myself. Boy, was I wrong. Soooo much to learn.

6. If we want to strengthen our family relationships here on earth, we
must first strengthen our relationships with our Heavenly Father. He
is our family too.
How often do children ask "mom/dad, do you love me?" and expect an
honest answer? Quite often. We should do the same with God. As we do,
we will feel His love more abundantly in our lives and understand that
we are his children.
A child so innocently yet marvelously understands the relationship
between parent and child. They know where to search for protection,
guidance, love, and answers to questions. Then, as children grow up,
as we all do, they seem to lose this understanding. Why is that?
As we get older should we not be increasing in wisdom and
understanding? not digressing?
It is no wonder to me that we are told to humble ourselves as a child
(matt 18:4)

I have many more thoughts and insights from my studies but I won't
take tons more time to share it all :)

The language is hard, but God is great :)
I love you all and thank you for your support.
- Sestra Kane