staying and training in Kosice

So long Kosice...............except not really, I will be staying in Kosice for another 2 months and throughout Christmas which I am extremely excited for, even though I kind of wanted to leave just so that I could experience the rest of the country and not be stuck out in the boonies. Me and Elder Guymon will be staying together for this transfer as well until Elder Guymon leaves on the 31st, we also would have to be a trio so that we can adjust to 2 missionaries once Elder Guymon leaves because he will be leaving in the middle of the transfer, and.... WE'RE GETTING A NEW MISSIONARY. Yep, me and Elder Guymon are training this transfer, and once he leaves then I'm solo training on my 3rd transfer and apparently I will also be the district leader once Elder Guymon leaves. We aren't going to Prague to pick up our new companion because it is really far and expensive so president said that somehow they would get him out to us. We're still marveling at how he's going to do that because riding a train is still scary for me thinking about being alone and also with a new missionary let alone him riding alone. But I'm sure they'll find him the right one and hopefully he'll just have to get off on the last stop. Next week we'll be having progression training for him and also having to go get his visa work so like 3 days after he gets here we all have to get on the train and ride back to Bratislava and stay there for a whole day and then go to Brno from there and then go home so next week is going to be a long week. but fun I suppose, and then we have 1 full week and then it's Christmas week.  I can't believe that it's already getting close to that and that we have to make plans for it. I can't believe it's already December and I still can't believe that I'll be training. President has a lot of trust in me/us to trust us so far away from mission headquarters and then also with a new companion. It's really cool to see that he likes me enough to do that and thinks that I'm up for the task.  He has told me many times that he's heard about my language skills but still it's really awesome to see what he thinks of me. Elder Guymon and I have really become good friends, I don't know exactly what happened to make it become so much closer.   But we really have become good good friends and I will be sad that he's leaving. He keeps calling me a legend because I'm training my third transfer which is pretty rare, and only the "legends" train their 3rd transfer. The guy who trained him trained him here and it was also his 3rd transfer. We'll see if I live up to his expectations for throughout the rest of my mission he always tells me that he wants to come down to Arizona and see who  I've become after my mission because he says I've really changed a lot. I hope not too much and just for the better kind of change. A new sister also came in, she is replacing sister Johnson who was really cool and also went to Zilina.  She is also from the Czech Republic and was the sister trainer leader there and is now the sister trainer leader here I guess, not exactly sure about that one, but she's as far as possible from the Czech. Her name is sister Barney I'll have pictures of her later.

This week feels like it has been really long and to be honest it gets harder and harder to remember the things that we've done. Like it has felt really long but at the same time it feels like it's just flown by, time in the mission is really weird and just really hard to get accustomed to haha. This week we've really seen some really really amazing progression from some of the members and then also from our one progressing investigator. It really all relies on church and our church attendance has definitely increased since the beginning of the transfer and it's something that I've always personally thought was one of the key aspects to leading a person to baptism. Of course great teaching and finding are really important but just doing everything you can to get members and investigators to church because without it, they can't progress and members will not stay active except in small remote cases. We have seen sooooo much progress from some of the less active members including 4 coming back from the first time in a long time this transfer, and just really seeing how it has changed their lives, we've gone from an average of 5 or so members at church to an average of 7 with one week getting 9 and we could have gotten 10 had 1 of the members who is usually there hadn't been in the Czech republic and if one of our strong members wasn't in spain haha. But regardless these people have been making steps to come backa nd they have been making promises and accepting commitments and really making amazing goals to go to the temple. I know that a couple whom the husband has never really been active they want to completely stop smoking and all that and then they want to get sealed in the temple and that's their goal. One of the people that Elder Guymon baptised a year and a half ago wants to really quit smoking and go to the temple. one of the members we have really really tried to help this transfer wants to be worthy to take the sacrament. All of these miracles we have seen this week and getting them to church is just a building block for them to bigger and better things. We were finally able to get Eva to church this week, she is our progressing investigator, and it was her first time at church, we had to walk with her evn though I was feeling pretty under the weather but we got her there and SHE LOVED It, and she was adding things and testinoy to the things that we hadn't even taught her yet like tithing, and she was just really really awesome. Me and Elder Guymon are sure that she will be ready and will get baptised this transfer and we're hoping for the 28th of this month right after Christmas. I really think that because she was at church she is really going to start the road to baptism, she keeps on reading and is at Helaman or something like that she just reads every night she is very very wonderful.

Then we were also able to help out Rado this week helping him move some of the junk in his house that his parents want to use in their kind of cottage house, so we borrowed a truck and we went and unloaded and loaded everything up and then we had a lesson with his parents. Which was really awesome because they were very honest and sincere in their interest in the Book of Mormon and then also Rado who is less active was testifying and pointing out good arguements to his mom and it was just very wonderful to teach with him he is just such a wonderful man. He said that he would be coming to church sometime before Elder Guymon comes so we're hoping to really empower him and his testimony, I know that he is just so grateful for everything I love him so much and he is just the coolest guy. Other than those wonderful wonderful miracles nothing else really happened... haha

Well that is quite the wall of text haha I hope that the package that I sent wasn't too worn haha, and that you all enjoyed the chocolate that I sent. It's very delicious and I have to make sure I don't buy very many or else I'm going to get fat! Not really, I've been sick and went to the hospital and got a shot and some pills, I got shot in the behind which was awkward and also made it hurt to sit down for the day.  They didn't run any tests and just said because I don't have a fever they have no idea what it could be haha. I was just feeling a lot of pain in my stomach and couldn't throw up even though I wanted to and then couldn't sleep at all and was just in really intense pain. But I'm all fine now, but I sent a package for Taylor to you for Christmas.  I didn't want to misspell anything or whatever so I just sent it to you because I forgot the address at home. so if you could give it to her that'd be great. Well that's everything.  I love you all and I'm jealous of everything that you're doing together, we'll hopefully skype, we might be able to do it in the building . I just might have to buy a camera for it but thank you for all the letters and updates in stuff.   Hope you're all staying safe!!

Elder Ferrell