August 19, 2013 - Kosice

Hello my lovelies!!

      Well this week was velmi (very) interesting... Pretty much the same as normal-get up, studies, contact, and teach but a few out of the ordinary things happened. The week started a bit rough, we haven't been teaching very much or getting many numbers while contacting but the morning contacting was nice for a change. We've gone back to normal schedule except for once a week, we'll contact in the morning.

     The first new thing (and my biggest news) is about M. He was having an issue with a gospel principle but this past week he contacted us and said he'd "live by all our precepts". So we met with him, determined his sincerity, and yesterday Elder Barber (my district leader) interviewed him. M is getting baptized this Saturday!!! We're sooo glad. He's so great, knows the gospel very well and is a wonderful addition to the Saints. So we're in high spirits. Sadly M won't be staying in Kosice (he lives closer to Bratislava or Nitra) but I know he'll bless lives in his home branch.

     My next news is about service. In our efforts to branch out and find more people to teach, President McConkie gave us permission to give private English lessons to a girl named N. She's real cool and is pretty much fluent in English, she just needs some help with grammar and sounding native. We hope she will also have an interest in our message. 

     Okay now this past Saturday was CRAZY!!! First, some background...So Sister Jones is from Wales and her family has some friends there who are named E and L. L is from the Czech Republic and E is from the Slovak Republic. They were on holiday visiting family here and we met with them briefly on Saturday. They aren't members and Sestra Jones gave them a KM (Kniha Mormonova) with her testimony written inside (in Slovak of course!). They were so nice and just an adorable family. E and L also had a package from the Jones Family containing peanut butter and marshmallows (Impossible things to find here!)!! (Brother Jones- Please pass along my thanks to your lovely wife and family! It made our day! THANK YOU SO MUCH!) 

     Then we went to the Branch BBQ. It was really fun especially because some of our investigators came! We ate a lot, played a lot and I got really sunburned! I need to invest in some sunscreen. But in about a week, I'll just be really tan...  I have pictures for you too!  Also there was a lot of food left over which the branch gave us so we missionaries ate like kings on Sunday!

Okay so answers to a couple of questions:

1.  Are you still doing the cooking or is it a shared event?  Is it easy to find the ingredients for the foods you like to eat?

A. Sestra Jones and I cook together. We eat a lot of salads (this is the healthiest I've eaten so far). We tried to do South Beach but it wasn't really working for us but we're still trying to stay away from lots of starches. Ingredients aren't too hard to find for most the things I want to make, plus I've had a few tips from other missionaries. This week we'll try Hawaiian Haystacks. I'll let you know how it goes.

2. What do you think has been the biggest adjustment to a foreign country?

A. Well I miss some of the American conveniences (such as chocolate chips and dryers and free grocery bags). There are just certain things that I have to be aware of that I never thought about at home. For instance, bus times. If I miss my bus, I might have to wait another 10 to 30 minutes depending on which bus I'm taking and where I'm going. Missing my bus might make me late for a meeting so it's very important!

I need to upload some pics now soooo.....

I love you all so much! Thanks for your support and encouragement!

S Laskou,

Sestra Whitney Sarah Johnson <3