Sister Kane's Letter 09_09_13

This is the Letter From our President this week. Thought I would share
it with you :) It is sooo lovely. He is the greatest mission
president.

Nový hlas September 9, 2013
Elders and Sisters,
In 1940, Pres. Toronto of the Czechoslovak Mission was invited to
speak in April General
Conference. He reported the faith and devotion of the Czech and Slovak
Saints at the time by
saying:
They are existing under the most adverse of conditions, but
none-the-less they live the
Gospel to such an extent as would put many of us to shame. Perhaps we
need adversity, in
order to fully appreciate the commandmdents and the belssings coming
from the Gospel
which we have . . . . Members of the Church in Central Europe have
learned to know the
deep meaning of the Gospel. They have learned to know that its core
and essence is to be
found in the admonition of Jesus: 'Love thy neigbor even as thyself.'"
Pres. Toronto's characterization of the Saints in 1940 would also seem
to describe the Saints
with which we are blessed to work today. Watch them, be aware of them,
see the many
good things that they do, and learn from their example of faith and
testimony. As you do,
your love for the Czech and Slovak people will grow and your testimony
of the Gospel will
become more certain.
S Laskou,
President and Sister McConkie

So for this weeeeek. Goodness where to even begin.
Missions are the weirdest time warp I think anyone will ever
experience. Everyday I think "how can it already be 6 months???????"
and then I think "how can I still have over a year left?" and then I
think "I'm glad God has control of time, and not me."
I was reading in Hebrews 12 (I think that's the correct reference) and
I ran across an interesting scriptural phrase. Paul counsels the
members of the church to "run with patience." Hmmm, I thought. Now, I
don't know about you, but I've never eyed a jogger and said "wow,
doesn't he look patient."
In fact, that's probably the last thing I'd say.
Yet, Paul tells us to run the race and do it patiently. Why? Probably
because we naturally try to "run faster than we have strength", and so
we need reminders as members of the church to pace ourselves, but to
keep running.
As Elder Holland said, "It's not over until it's over."
I reread his talk "cast not away therefore your confidence" this week,
and that has GOT to be one of the best devotionals ever given at BYU.
I love that that entire talk was inspired from a simple biblical line:
"cast not away therefore your confidence."
The scriptures are full of "one-liners" that can reach out and touch
our souls, expand our minds, and lift up our sagging hearts. I know
that anytime we feel distant from God, the solution is to simply
immerse ourselves in the Book of Mormon. This book is a miracle book.
This book changes hearts. This book changes lives.

We had our concert this week :) SOOOO much preparation went into this
one night. Sister Baird and I have never prayed so much.
Twas an interesting experience.
Gotta say - missions will push you SO outside of your comfort zones,
they will make you do things you never thought you would, or even
could.
Who would have thought, a year ago, that I would be performing on the
piano in Slovakia with a professional singer and talented violinists
and singers? Not me. All for the sake of what? Bringing others unto
Christ :)
We had a couple people come to the concert. A few members (4) and a
couple from Holland that we met on the street (2) a lady from English
(1) investigator's family (5 ish people) and, drum roll here's the big
surprise, the daughter of our Neighbor that we've been trying to
teach. (0.0)!!!
It was SOO COOL. We were so glad she came. She even came to church the
next day with us :) Sister Baird and I are teaching Sunday School
right now *po slovensky* je to zauemavé. Nemôzeme hovoriť po slovensky
... tak.
Anyway we're leaving Sunday School, I go out into the hallway to put
away the manuals (Sister Baird still in sight of course) and she runs
over, grabs me by both my arms and pulls me into the Sunday School
room. She grabs my shoulders looks me in the eyes and points at the
painting we have on the wall of the first vision. "why are there 2
Jesus'?" she says. I giggled a little bit because of how seriously she
was asking the question. "one is God and one is Jesus" I responded.
"Well, then why do they look exactly the same?" she asked. I said,
"your brother looks kind of like your dad doesn't he? Well, Jesus
looks like his dad, too." She stared at me for a moment and then
seemed to accept that answer and walked out of sunday school. It was
quite the funny highlight for me this week :) My favorite thing was
that she came to church, pulled a book of mormon off the shelf and
started to read through it. Then as she was leaving she put it back
and we told her she could have it, even gave her a chapter to read.
Thought about it, then put it back and decided she didn't want it.
Then starsi guymon said something to her about it, she ran back over
pulled it off the shelf and put it in her bag :)
YAY! She has a Book of Mormon :) Gosh I am sooo excited :) Praying SO HARD.
SOOOO Hard.
I don't think I've ever fasted and prayed so much in my entire life as
I have on my mission.

Also, we taught the "millennium" for sunday school, which was a little
deep for a first lesson... but we hope that it went okay haha.

Anyway, back to the koncert. We cleaned the building, decorated,
called members, got people involved, etc. etc. etc. Then we sang, I
played, this awesome street violinist basically made the show. He was
AWESOME. He played you raise me up, amazing grace, an interactive
piece that was really fun, and then the missionaries did some great
pieces. There was a little down syndrome boy who did twinkle twinkle
little star in sign language. It was a beautiful night of faith :) You
could tell many people felt the spirit :) I am excited for next
month's concert. October 19!

Advice for missionaries:
I am really glad to be companions with Sister Baird this transfer. We
have been trying new finding ideas and we have been able to really see
the spirit of the Lord in the work.
Anyone going to a European mission! - Don't ever let anyone tell you
that all you're going to do is "contacting" and "tracting"
Yes, you will do A LOT of that.
But it's up to you, too, where and how you spend your missionary
efforts. Everyone knows contacting/tracting is ineffective. God gave
missionaries brains for a reason, and he expects us to be creative in
his work. We have to do things that haven't been done before. I've
seen on my mission that the times I push myself to do things I really
don't know I can do, the Lord helps me and the miracles come :) Don't
take the easy path :) - *tracting*
there are better ways to find. God will help you!

I am learning SOO much about the gospel as a missionary. I realize now
that I really had NO idea how to be a member of this church before my
mission. I had no idea what a covenant was. I didn't even really know
very much about the atonement really.
Now I know.
And I KNOW I know.
Missions will change you forever :) they will make you love the Lord
more than you've ever thought possible.
I never knew that learning to love was a lifelong process, but it is.
Oh it is :)

Love, Sestra Kane