Birthday Wishes for Mom From Jicin

Birthday wishes for Mom

Downtown Jicin

No description provided by Elder Shirley. It reminds us of a room in a scene from the Sound of Music.

Fall colors around Jicin

Fall colors around Jicin

Trees around Jicin

A tower discovered while out and about on P-day

Elder Shirley says that the picture doesn't do this justice - you need to see this in person!

October 13, 2015

Hello everybody!

I hope all is well with everyone! It is getting to be pretty cold here lately in the Czech Republic. But the work is still going! Elder Bitner and I have spent a lot of time this past week trying to find new investigators through contacting and tracting. I do believe that the Lord has prepared people to hear the gospel, we just have to find those people. 

We taught a few great lessons this past week with investigators and with some less-actives. We also had an investigator come and listen to General Conference on Saturday which is awesome. 

I have been reading a lot out of the Book of Mormon lately as well as the Bible. We get lots of questions asked to us and I know that anything can be answered with the scriptures. I have come to realize that through listening and learning about other people's thoughts of religion, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints really does have the fulness of the gospel. I am so glad to have this knowledge and to have the opportunity to share it.

General Conference was this past week for us in the Czech Republic and I thought it was really good. I enjoy listening to, learning from, and feeling the Spirit of our prophet and apostles. I especially enjoyed Elder Eyring's talk about the Holy Ghost. I also enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk. I am grateful to have modern day revelation from these great men. I was impressed with the 3 new apostles as well and am excited to have them serving in the Quorum of the Twelve. 

Also, for those who don't know, transfers in my mission are every 9 weeks instead of the regular 6. 

The work continues here in Jičín. Being a missionary is a great experience. Love you all and have a great week!

-Starší Shirley

We asked Elder Shirley several questions in a recent email; here’s a separate email to Shiree with responses to those questions and some additional info:

Good luck to Dan and Abrea this week with soccer and basketball! I love hearing about their sports! I'm glad you guys are still finding time for the temple. The closest temple to us here is a couple hours by train, so we are definitely lucky to live in Rexburg. Bowling sounds like fun...you guys are lucky that I wasn't there to beat you all! It has gotten pretty cold here and the heaters have been turned on in our apartment as well. 

Transfers will be in 2 weeks. I'll probably stay here because my companion is leaving and they usually have someone stay in the area. The best part of my day is meal time, of course! Haha and when we finally stop someone and they actually want to talk to us. For breakfast, we eat cereal. Lunch is usually light and I usually make some noodles. Dinner is most often stroganoff and sometimes frozen pizza. Every evening we plan and then I write in my journal and do whatever else. I have gotten to play basketball 3 or 4 times, but I haven't for the last couple of weeks. P-days are usually just relaxing and cleaning the apartment. We haven't really gone anywhere yet. The Czech people are pretty friendly, but it always just depends on the person. We've gotten swore at a few times, so you always meet those mean people haha. I have been healthy so far and hopefully that keeps up!

Your birthday is tomorrow! Happy Birthday Mom! You are the best. I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, but I'll be thinking of you. I join in with Elder Holland and everything he said at conference. I owe you everything. So thank you. Love you lots! Have a good week!