Week 77

 Hello :)

This last week was wonderful. To say it shortly and simply....

We met this woman named Kristina and she started talking about questions she has about God. And she asked us what we thought. Then she talked again and asked more questions. Then humbly listened to our answers. And my mind was blown. Right before my eyes was a perfect example of someone asking and seeking and knocking, searching for what's right and what's true. There have been many times on my mission when it feels like pulling teeth to encourage people to learn about Christ or I've sat in a meeting with someone and almost tried to convince them to truly be interested in God. But, it doesn't work like that :) each human bean is its own person. And everyone acts for themselves. And when someone actively chooses to seek for truth, boy howdy, they are going to find it. When someone has sincere desire it's crazy how smoothly and perfectly the Lord works with them and with us and everybody. I'm so grateful I got to see some of that from Kristina. I want to be someone like that for the rest of my life. I want to ask my questions and then listen and go out looking for more answers from the Lord. 

I think that's all I have to say for now :)

I love you dearly 

Sestra Call

We had some exchanges in Třebíč, where I served for 5 months!!! I saw Julča (a young member of the church there) and we found some Christmas light bears that haven't been taken down yet :)

We went and visited a tomb place today. 

And here's a little view of Brno

Week 76

 Hello :)

Christmas was amazing and a blessing in every way. We spent it with a member family and they kindly shared with us all the Czech traditions. I felt so much love in my heart for these people. To give you an idea of how wholesome they are...one of the greatest Czech traditions is to watch old fairytales on Christmas eve after a big dinner. Isn't that one of the most tender things you have ever heard? And they sing Czech carols together all throughout the night as well. 

Miracles happen every day :) the ones this week were maybe smaller than normal, but even sweeter because of that. By small things do great things come to pass :) the Lord makes the miracles happen, not me. But, I try my best to work hard and give everything I've got.

We had a little transfer today because some missionaries went home for school. Sister Shumway is going away :/ it is for the best and I feel peace but it was really hard to see her go.

My new comp is Sister Donaldson!! She's already amazing and I excited for our time together.

I thought I would never publicly send an apology about this, but I do apologize to the people I love out there who have sent me messages and emails. I appreciate every single one so much and I feel so much love and support from each one of you. I'm trying to soak up my time here on my mission and I have helped organize preparation days for groups of missionaries (my zone) and they always take up the whole day so I feel like I never get anything done. Anyways, I can't promise that I will send a good response these next three weeks, but I am going to try. And know that I love you with all my heart :) thank you to each of you who have inspired me and helped me so far on my mission. It's meant the world to me.

With love, 

Sister Call

Week 74: Hello Again :)

 Dear, dear Family and Friends.

Merry, merry, merry Christmas :) please hug someone you love, listen to your favorite Christmas song, and think a whole lot about your Savior. 

A couple miracles that have been so much fun and so special lately. 

-we were tracking (knocking on people's doors and giving them a smile and message about Christ) a neighborhood and noooo one was answering the door. So, we decided to pray about what color of house we should find and we went to those houses and each one answered us and we had great conversations. I shared with those people my testimony of The Book of Mormon. I told them that God loved them. And I know they felt it :) they didn't have interest in continuing the conversation or meeting with us, but it was enough to me that we talked to them and had the opportunity to share our testimonies.

-there is a girl named Gabriela who we have met and started teaching. Gabriela had a thought and feeling that she needed to discover who God is, so she started looking. And she found us :) and started to pray for the first time and came to church for the first time. Everything is fresh and so new. Like a brand new little baby :) and it's beautiful. It's beautiful and real what sincere desire and searching for truth brings to a person.

I know that Christ lives. I know it with every bit of my mind and heart 💛 I'm so grateful He was born into this world. I know new beginnings are real for me and for each one of you. 

My plea to you today: remember Jesus Christ this weekend. Remember, remember. And remember is an action word btw which means you don't just have nice thoughts about Him, but you do something that He would do. Let me know what you do 😊

I love you :) I'm so grateful to be a missionary and this precious time I have.

Love, Sestra Call

Some pictures with Sister Utsch (from my MTC group!), and then Sister Bondarchuk (I love this woman dearly), advent calendars!

A European Christmas concert watch party with a couple members

Me next to very old radio equipment :)

Gabi!!! With all of us :)

A little manger scene from today. They don't place the baby Jesus in the Manger until the 24th.

Ps Today is my p day today, in case you're wondering :)

Week 71 WOTW: Reasons to give thanks

 Dobrý večer 😊

My moments of gratitude----

1. We had a conference with all the missionaries in Czech Republic and Slovakia on Thanksgiving day. Amazing blessing. Elder Kopischke and Sister Kopischke came to visit us and teach us about faith. I can't really put into words how inspired I was to be different and teach different and love different because of everything they said. Please ask me to share my journal notes with you next p day if you'd really like to hear. 

2. This weekend I decided to talk to people more :) and you may be saying to yourself, "Aren't you a missionary, Sister Call? Don't you talk to people all day, every day already?" 

Yes, that's true. But, for the past few months I've fallen into a lazy hole. When I am traveling each day, I have no problem chatting with people. But, teaching a restoration lesson in thirty seconds on the tram to a stranger, became a lot of work to do. Throughout my mission, I hope I've seen an upward slope in myself and in my work. But, I have to tell you honestly that there have been dips and drips along the way. And that has been one of the dips for me. But, the mission conference inspired me so much, it touched me so deep and reminded me how important that it is that I'm seeking for the spirit. Every moment throughout the day, I want to be listening INTENTLY. Not just sitting around and waiting for the Holy Ghost to whisper a fantastic miracle or prompting, but searching it out and waiting for it to send a little feeling in my heart that I should tell a woman that eternal families exist or that I should sit next to a little family and tell them my testimony of prayer. Every moment I'm a missionary. Not just during a scheduled time of day to street contact and not just during a fancy lesson with a friend. Every moment. And I've got to use it and take advantage.

I'm here to tell you right this moment that Jesus Christ lives. He loves you. His restored gospel is on the earth and He wants you to be a part of it. All in, 100% :)

What are you grateful for? 

I love you :)

Sestra Call

A few little explanations of the pictures...also, I'm sorry i don't send more pictures with the friends and members I meet, I need to ask permission before sending out their pictures and I forget to ask in advance 89% of the time :/

We had a slumber party in our living room, and this is my district at the conference! 

And then this is my church building here in Brno.

A Christmas tree in our apartment building lobby.

Dinner with Bob!

Week 70: dreams come true

Hello everyone,

My Christmas wishes have come true. We got transfer news on Saturday and Sister Shumway and I are staying together for another transfer.

That's correct, we will be together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

YAAYY!!! 

I had a moment this week that reminded me of what Joseph Smith said about his first vision experience. His experience was so powerful and strong that he knew it, God knew it, and God knew that He knew it. Therefore, he could not deny it.

Personal study is really important to Sister Shumway. On my mission, if I'm being brutally honest, I haven't prioritized it that well. When we're busy and our members need something or friends need something or if we need more people to teach, my language study was the first thing to go, and then companionship study, and then personal. But, anyways, you don't need to hear all my excuses :)

Sister Shumway asked if we could make a goal to set a specific time every day when we would study and we'd never schedule anything during that time. Seems like a beautiful idea, right?

For some reason, I had a really bad attitude about it. I didn't like the thought of taking that, "selfish time" for ourselves each day when maybe this need would arise, or maybe something else would be more important.

But, I agreed. And on Wednesday I was studying. And I started thinking and feeling something. I was reading The Book of Mormon and overcome with a love for what I do as a missionary. I remembered why I chose to come to Czech Republic and why I've chosen to be here each day. And then the thought came to me so clearly, "you need a personal study every single day to remember your why." 

I have one more transfer as a missionary. There are 9 weeks left of wearing this tag. It's not a very fun topic to talk about sometimes for me but the truth is that I want to make every moment count. I want to keep pushing and giving everything I have but I can't do that unless I remember why I'm doing it every day. It doesn't matter how long I've been a missionary or how many things I've already learned, I need the daily nourishment and reminder of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I think we all need that. No matter how strong we may be.

I wasn't even looking for that experience but somehow it happened right when I needed it. What's beautiful is that Sister Shumway had been praying that same day that I'd have some kind of change of heart. And it happened. Of course it did, because Heavenly Father is amazing and aware of me and her and everybody.

Love you all dearly 

Sister Call 

Week 68: Joy!

 Hello friends and family ☀️

I want to tell you really quick a thought about joy. This week I felt a LOT of joy. Joy from the time I spent with other sister missionaries like Sister Zernzach and Sister Gilmour and Sister Utsch. Joy from a Zone conference that happened. Joy because the members here created a Halloween party and invited everyone they know. Joy because we met a girl named Karolína for the first time yesterday and she wants to be baptized but her parents don't agree. And then I felt joy in a lot of other things, too :)

So, my Mission President has been thinking about this a lot, a lot. There are a lot of missionaries in my mission and probably in the whole world who are looking for joy or struggling to feel it. And so we've been talking as a group about how to find that joy.

And the answer always comes back to Jesus Christ. I'm not even joking or just saying that because that's what everyone says. I've been studying about this and every reference of joy in the scriptures directly references Jesus Christ. It does. And all good things comes from God. Even those little things in our lives that also bring us joy are directly from Him. 

That is my little thought. I love you all. Everyone deserves joy. Maybe you can think this week about the difference between happiness and joy and let me know your thoughts sometime ☀️😊 

With all my love, Sister Call

My district cooking a yummy Ukrainian dish today :)

And we did service with Elder Woodland, Levyk and Sister Gilmour and they gave us a very big pumpkin :)

Sister Utsch and Sister B (SHE WAS MY COMP IN PRAGUE)

A very bad picture with Sister Z. We went and delivered notes to a family that was sick

And the amazing Morava Zone (that's our name :) )

Week 66: Two Little Things

 Hi friends. As I am sitting and thinking about what I want to write to you all there are two things coming to my mind. Therefore, I shall share those two things, ok? Ok :)

First, is that I get really sleepy during my studies. Every day as a missionary you get 2 hours (sometimes not that much, but, we try) to study the language you're learning and personal study when you study anything you want about Jesus Christ. I've struggled on and off throughout my mission to not just doze off during that time and it drives me crazy that it's been that way. Well, the past few weeks the villain of sleepiness is back and sort of worse than ever before. For the first time I almost dozed off in church. That = not awesome.

Why am I telling you this, my friend? 

I wanted to say it because I get plenty of sleep at night. And every personal study I pray for God to help me focus and not fall asleep. And I do jumping jacks before so that I don't fall asleep. And nothing helped. UNTIL. My companion, Sister Shumway, asked me how SHE could help because she noticed I was struggling with this. Now, I didn't bring this up at all because it's an embarrassing and frustrating thing that I struggle with. But, when she loved me enough to say something and we started to work on it together, and support each other, suddenly I had the best personal study on Sunday that I've had in weeks. 

Why does that matter to me? 

Because #1, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of my heart. And I remember that love and joy each time I study the word of God intently and it literally works miracles in my life. #2, I don't actually ask for help a lot. I'm a people pleaser and part of that means that I don't like feeling like a burden to people and I really don't like asking for favors, so, usually I don't. But, Jesus Christ taught me through the example of my amazing companion, that I can't live this life alone. Nobody can. It's not meant to be that way and it's so much harder when I try to make that way work. 

That leads me to my other thought. The members of the church here in Brno are amazing. They are miraculous human beings and I love them. As missionaries we're told pretty often that the missionary work we do is suppose to be hand in hand with the members in our area. That, without them our work is impossible. And I believe that. But, do I feel like I've figured out how to do it on my mission so far? Not really. I'm so grateful though for the opportunity I'm getting to work here in Brno, though. Because somehow I'm seeing for the first time how it's all suppose to work. We've tried to have open conversations with members of the church about how we can improve as missionaries and better support them. We've served members before asking them for favors or meals. We've tried to boldly and lovingly invite members to pray about people who need them. And then, what's crazy, is I feel like that's all we've done and then the members have done everything else. They've reached out to us asking how they can help. And they've texted us about a friend they have who they think we could meet. And then they've reached out to us and invited us to a family barbecue with their daughter who hasn't been to church in a long time. And then they make us feel loved and needed. I feel the difference is that something inside motivates them. Something inside makes them want to notice us missionaries at church instead of maybe avoiding us. Or maybe they decide to courageously ask their friend to an activity or something or something. I need to keep thinking about this over and over so I can figure out the kind of member that I want to be after my mission. I want that love and desire to come from deep inside. I want to do all I can to help the Lord and my ward and the missionaries. I want to be courageous and just do what the Spirit whispers to me.

I can't stop thinking about how this mission has been teaching me so much about who I want to be for the rest of my life. Now I can see why people remember their missions for the rest of their lives :)

I'm sorry this was a long rant but I wanted to share these things with you instead of just sharing some random, cute things. And I guess I can rant about something when I feel strongly about it.

I love you all and I sincerely wish you the best week :) a week filled with so much joy and so many little miracles.

With love, Sister Call

Heeeyy it's Sister Gilmour and her companion, Sister Raulinaitis. We get to work with them and basically help them with whatever they need. Sister Gilmour is still a beast. This circle is something from President Skousen called the revelatory process. It's something we repeat over and over again to get answers to our questions. I loved it a lot. 

And me and Sister Shumway :))