"Have a Good Week! And Have a Blast!"

Missionary name tags from the whole Zone!

Dobrý den! Jak se máte? That means "Good day! How are you all?" Fun fact though, the "How are you all?" has a great direct translation. It actually means "How are you having yourselves." And you answer with "Mám se dobře!" which means "I am having myself well!" Fun things in Czech.

Updates for this week:

·  The MTC is the best!  Honestly spending almost all of my day learning is pretty much a dream come true for me.

·  It is official, I have not even gained 1 pound in the last 2 weeks since I weighed myself. I feel so lied to about the MTC food.

·  My companion briefly lost his room key and someone from our zone found it.  Instead of immediately giving it back they took it and used it to sticky note our room while we were gone.  Not too shabby either. They also gave the key back anonymously this morning so we still don't know exactly who it is.  We have some theories though.

• • My companion and I taught some excellent lessons this week. We may have gotten the sympathy card since he was dying of the plague and sounded like it. But he's good now. We challenged one of our investigators to be baptized and she said yes! So that was pretty awesome.
  • On Friday was our teacher Bratr Knapp's birthday. He wouldn't tell us, but our other teacher told us right before he left for the night. So Saturday morning when he came in there was a very large drawing of a cake and Happy Birthday in Czech (we think). And we got him a brownie and put it up next to the whiteboard, and then drew a candle over it. He refused to blow out his birthday candle, and we were rather upset about that. I have pictures if this computer is willing to share them with you all.

• • On Sunday my companion and I taught Priesthood. And then taught at our District Meeting (which is basically MTC SundaySchool). And then he gave a talk in Sacrament meeting. Basically we were just trying to receive every blessing that we possible could.
  • I forgot to share in the last email, but we hosted for the 1st time last Wednesday. That was pretty fun. We are also hosting next week when Elder Jeremiah Brown will be entering into the MTC. If I see him I'm going to fight people to host him. (not really, I'll actually just walk up and say "Hey, I know this guy. He's a friend of mine. Can I host him?" And they'll let me.)
  • Elder Pickett the missionary hereby decrees by the power not vested in me to make decrees that from this day forth, Monday November 23rd will be termed Revelation Monday. This decree goes into effect as of Sunday November 22nd. Also please note that only when November 23rd falls on a Monday is this day called after this name. This decree goes into effect because Monday was super spiritual and super awesome! We don't have a P-Day due to Thanksgiving this week on Thursday, so we got to go the temple Monday morning. And let me tell you, there is absolutely no better way to start your day. So go to the temple people, it is a great place.
  • I credit Elder Paxton from my district with what might be the best worst pun I've ever heard in my life. "Pragueably." I don't even feel the need to explain anything with that. I will allow it stand alone as the masterpiece that it is.
  • Now for some language fun. I started reading one of our Czech grammar books and I feel like every time I do my brain sort of explodes. It is fabulous. I learn a ridiculous amount and it explains soooo many things that we've come across, but haven't yet learned. Amongst such, I am learning a bunch about pronunciation. Czech people are smart. Also, their language is amazing. One of these things is the word "kdo," which means who. In Czech k=k sound from English. Except sometimes. For purposes of easing pronunciation, in the word "kdo" the k sound changes to a g sound. Which seems really bizarre, but actually makes the word flow better. Especially because that word is 1 syllable long. Another fun Czech thing, there are 3 ways to say I like/love something. Libit se means a superficial kind of like. So you like someone's tie, or a city. Also with that one you say that thing you like first and conjugate the verb for "it is pleasing to me" basically. Like "me gusta" in Spanish. The next one up is usually reserved for living things you can actually have a relationship with and it is mít rád. The literal translation of it is "I have gladly ___." The final one is milovat. Which is reserved for people you are married to and God and Jesus Christ basically. Because the connotation of milovat is that you would die for that thing that you love. So we use it when we teach about how much God and Jesus Christ love us. And that is all.
  • It has been confirmed, we are getting a devotional from an Apostle on Thanksgiving! We are just a little, tiny bit freaking out about how amazing that will be.
  • Final thought for the week comes from the choir director. He is pretty much the coolest guy I know, and I don't even know him. He is super entertaining and injects a lot of humor and then a lot of spiritual aspects into the music we are singing. For example, Nearer My God to Thee is actually all about Jacob's Ladder. Fun fact. Which I found out about 2 weeks ago. But he shared a thought from Elder Scott, that was shared at the MTC pulpit. It is "Have a good mission. And have a blast!" So that is exactly what I intend to do. I feel like we can say the same thing about life. So everyone, "Have a good [week]. And have a blast!"
  
  

Our impressive stash of food in our residence hall   

                Bowling alley on top of closet

Love you all, thanks for all the letters and packages and support! Hope you are having a blast in Utah partying it up! Surprise, I am emailing a day early! Thank you all so much for your letters. I feel bad that I am not really able to respond individually, but know that I appreciate them very much and love hearing from you. Also thanks for the awesome package! Mints are the bomb.com. Caroline, sorry, but since I don't get a P-day this week, I am not sure if I will be able to respond to your letter until next week! We just have so little free time to write letters! Also, the Nativity is up in my classroom, which is where the Christmas tree will be going too, to bring joy to my entire District. I am excited for that. This week has gone by ridiculously fast. I can't even believe it. Seriously time here is utter insanity. Also, I have some people I would like you to thank for me. I can't remember if I told you about the Sugdens, they sent candy and an object lesson on faith. Grandma has now sent me 2 letters and I haven't been able to respond yet! Yikes. I will get on that one. Also the Browns sent me a giganto tub of Redvines. Also note that the computer is not telling me to fix the word giganto. Why is this? I feel reasonably confident that giganto is not actually a word. Other than that, I am doing great, and I think I can send some pictures too!

Sweater Saturday!

-Starší Pickett