What a Year

heroes!

From Sister Gunnell/ one of the couple missionaries serving in the mission:  "Our heroes for the day! They put our snow tires on the car while we were attending a baptism. On their P-day no less. You have a wonderful son! We served with Elder Brockbank in Jicin and love him to pieces!! Looking forward to getting to know your son better!!" 

As is commemorated in my email title, yesterday marked a year to the day since I entered the MTC. Crazy to think about. This week has been pretty crazy as well. Lots of interesting things and some fun, some not fun.

• Last week we had baptisms of a married couple with 3 kids here in Prague. They are good friends of members who actually just went through the temple for the first time and were sealed (they got baptized a year and a half ago in April). The newly baptized family is super awesome and very solid. They have an excellent understanding of the gospel and how everything works, and we feel that they are a really solid addition to the ward. The husband actually was invited to bear his testimony on Sunday at Ward Conference. He is super awesome.

Our baptistery here in the Prague building. 

President P redid some carpeting and lighting and it looks really nice.

• On Sunday evening I threw-up. And then again at about 3:30 in the morning. Not sure why, but seeing that a few other people from our district did as well, we think it might have been something that we ate. But we don't know. Elder Brockbank and I went out for the evening to go visit a few less-active members. We got on a tram and I wasn't feeling too great. We walked into the metro and I was still feeling pretty bad. We got to our stop and started walking and I had to sit down because I was feeling really bad. So we decided to go back so that I could go to bed. Well we took the metro back to the tram stop...And I didn't make it any further. I threw-up in a trashcan there, with an audience of 6-7 semi-drunk homeless people. They came over and asked me for cigarettes after. They probably thought I was drunk.  Needless to say a memorable experience. I am totally healthy now though, don't worry.
• Monday I was feeling okay. I was kept on a diet of bread and fruit tea drunken very slowly for the day. And interesting day. We also got ready for training the next day, and I napped a bit. We have a convenient couch here in the office and I have used it a few times these past weeks.
• Tuesday we had a really good zone training. We talked about baptism (a favorite of ours), successful missionary work, referrals, and promising blessings.  It is super great to work with President P, and I definitely will get a picture with him before transfers. It was a good training, and I got to really eat the lunch, so that was excellent. After that we changed some tires, and then practiced for our concert next week.

 From Elder Brockbank: "Here's a picture of me when I drove a car for the first time this week in Europe. Look at that cool, calm, and collected face with hands at 10 and 2.  Just think of Mario Kart full of lane changes, signs galore, trams to dodge, and if you crash, you can actually die."

• Wednesday we had to prepare for the other zone conference, so that involved a lot of work in the office. Not much happened that day.  From Elder Brockbank: “I quickly redesigned a certificate for President P(aka made a new one) into something high-brow, edgy, classy, and still accessible to the average Mormon missionary serving in central Europe.” This mission is going to be CLASSY by the time Elder Brockbank leaves the office with his graphic design skills.
• Thursday we had an exchange. I was with Elder Geier and we had fun being outside finally and talking to people. It was a great day.

 Prague is pretty in the Fall 

• Friday we took a car in to get the tires changed professionally by someone and then also practiced for our concert. And my great companion paid for a yummy lunch (picture included!) for me to celebrate my mission birthday since I did pass my year mark yesterday. That was kind of crazy. I certainly hope that things slow down. That would be great. It was a good day. 

•   (answering Scott back…) Teenage years are pretty critical for the youth and their testimonies, because it is when they start asking themselves if they really believe all of these things. When I talk to people I usually identify 15-16 as when I really started to gain a personal and defining testimony of the gospel. So they are right at that time. And real leadership experience with accountability and decision making is critical too. Learning how to solve problems and make things work. It is important.

• We are going to Phantom of the Opera next week for our Culture Night. It is going to be really good. We are also having a concert and inviting lots of people to it to use it as a finding tool. We have a VERY musical district, so it is going to be pretty awesome. We just need to practice a little more to get ready for it. 
• ·         Transfers happen a week from Monday. We will get calls next Saturday, so I know nothing. Except the fact that I am probably leaving. Almost certainly.  I am really excited to get the heck out of the office. Being cooped up in here is starting to really drive me crazy. We just have no time for other missionary work, and it gets frustrating and discouraging. But I am going to try to emphasize finding time to get out a lot during planning this week and try to make it happen. Somehow. This transfer is going really fast and I feel like I have run out of time for a lot of stuff here. But it is still good. 

My spiritual thought for the week is on mercy. The Savior is the perfect example of mercy and love. It is interesting that sometimes in life we think that everything that is happening is so lacking in mercy and that we are forced to suffer things that we should not. But I testify that God is merciful, that He uplifts and supports us during our trials, and that He will guide us. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is strong enough to undue any damage done to use during this life. Thank you for the support and prayers!

-Elder Pickett

 Food commentary & pictures from Elder Brockbank. 

 Our missionaries are DEFINITELY become foodies!  

Elder Brockbank: "This is Svičková. It is THE Czech dish. It is terribly delicious. Those bread things are called knedliky and are SUPER YUMMY with the vegetable sauce. This is an insanely yummy crepe that I ate stuffed with chicken, cream sauce, and mushrooms. Also a plus is that food in the Czech Republic is CRAZY cheap."