but trenčin, right?

Okay, so, this week.

I love Trenčin. There are just the loveliest people here. Everyone knows everyone, and people just love us and say good morning to us, and there is just a castle, and the river always looks like it is surrounded by a rainforest. So that is just terrific.

Like, for example, this week, well, yesterday, we contacted this woman and sang to her*, and had a fantastic contact. She did not want to give us her number, so that was sad, but we prayed we would see her again. Then today, I had a sudden urge to get my haircut, and we looked everywhere/one place, but they were already booked, so we walked really far to go to this random mall place because we were feeling like that was a good decision. We walked into the hair dressing place and there was nobody there, and the hairdresser was that same lady! We really could not believe it! She was SO happy to see us, and sat me down and talked to me forever about how my hair is the thickest in the whole world, and also about God and receiving answers to prayers. God really works in mysterious ways-sometimes, through hair.

bacon on the ground

*This week was a glorious week, because in preparation for our koncert, Elder Jardine brought me his ukulele so I could play it in the koncert. BEST WEEK EVER. So yesterday, we decided to take it with us contacting. We walked around Trenčin for four hours asking people if we could sing to them. I am finding that I can play almost any hymn on the ukulele, so we can sing whichever ones we have memorized in Slovak. The best part about this is that it stops families!! We have been trying for weeks and weeks to figure out how we can stop families with smallish children. It is hard when we stop them and say, hey, look, we teach families, and then their kids are running away as we are speaking! We loved being able to show people that we teach families instead of just telling them. It was probably one of the most fun afternoons I have ever had.

picture on fire alarm

So. Another hilarious thing that happened this week happened when we were visiting our 90 year old investigator friend. She told us that she went to katholik mass on sunday, and the priest, was a really nice man, and stood up and told the congregation that there are two really cute young women who dress very nicely and have nametags that are going around trenčin talking to people about their religion, and that everyone needed to give caution, because the two girls had really strong faith! We were half scared and half pleased with this, and then she continued to say that she went up and talked to him and told him that she has us over all the time! Hahah we were dying. She is really a cute old lady.

One of my favorite miracles happened this week when we saw one of our members eating lunch at an outdoor cafe with her friend. She waved us over, and we talked to them for a while, and then we ended up teaching and giving her friend a book of mormon. She was so interested and so ready to receive it. And our member was so great at bearing testimony and being excited for her friend! Ah. We loved it.

raining

Then we had another incident when we were talking to people on the street, and then our new convert just came right up and started teaching with us! We were in the middle of the lesson, and he just walked right up and started bearing testimony about the book of mormon and his baptism, and was not ashamed at all! I was so impressed! This man who was baptized like three weeks ago had absolutely no fear. It was really quite amazing.

I got slapped this week, so that was fun. A woman really hit me three times on my bare arm and told to go back to my own country, because they already had teachers here! I thought that was nice. I actually was grateful for it because it snapped me back into reality for a minute, and helped me remember who I am and what I am doing here. This is totally not normal life! I am a representative of Jesus Christ, like Paul, or like Stephen, or like Peter! I am preaching his gospel with every footstep I take. I am stopping people on the streets to bear my testimony of a living Father in Heaven who has a plan for us and a Savior who died for every one of us. I cannot believe that for one minute I would ever forget the significance of my calling.

BUT we also got blessed on the street this week. SO, justice, right?

Phew. Also, they have these white flesh peaches here, and they are just heavenly.

anyway, I seriously cannot remember what else I was going to write.

SO happy pioneer day!!!

s laskou,

sestra abbott