Ahoy rodini a kamaradi!!

Pre letter:  Wow so much has happened this past week and it sounds like a lot of fun!!! I really wanted to read that book because Chad Lewis came and talked to us on Sunday and it was a stellar talk one of my favorites by far!!!!  I really wanted to read it after his talk!!! Thanks for sending!  Last email i got from Kennedy she was enjoying her job a lot better; the pictures of the kids were super cute!! SO EXCITED ABOUT LAUREN!!!  Can't wait to come home to a brand new kid that I've never met!! Yeah crazy about Gilbert! Dawson tanner and some of the other kids have been sending me their highlights because i asked them too!!! This week was pretty great and will get into it more at 3! you don't have to send cheetoes ill be fine and we leave monday morning anyways!! I don't know when I'll be able to call but my guess is around 10-2 then maybe again in Amsterdam!! Cant wait to get out of here even though my Czech is pretty bad! 

Love you! Will send a couple pics from the temple this morning!! this was my last session for 2 years!!

Love, Starší Heywood

Letter:   Sounds like everyone had an eventful week with the Arizona reception and all!!!! From the sounds of it it sounded pretty fun and I hear the Mexican food was a huge hit! I want some! the only real food I get is when we go to the temple cafeteria after a session!! Oh and on that note today was my last time at the temple for 2 years so that was a little depressing!

So overall my last full week in the Mtc has been really great! So last friday we got our flight plans if you all didn't know! we leave the Mtc Monday at 9:50 am and take a nice long flight all the way to Amsterdam then we have a layover then head on over to Prague!! Cant wait to get over there!! An Elder in our districts mom has been sending us weather updates so we are getting pretty excited for the Prague walk, Ill be sure to take tons of pictures! Also I'll have plenty of time to call you guys!

The Skinners are here in the Mtc and it was so nice to see a face from home!! I have seen them everyday and they take a picture every time I see them and send it to mom so I'm sure she has a bunch pics of me from this week!! It was really funny when I first saw them in the cafeteria andIi ran up and Kathy gave me a big hug and I was not expecting that because you know I haven't given a woman a hug in 9 weeks so that was really funny!! Its been nice chatting with them for a little bit everyday. they are leaving Saturday so only a week for them!

So for this past Sunday devotional it was awesome Chad Lewis came and spoke to us! It has got to be one of my favorite talks from the mtc he just told a lot of mission and NFL stories and it was awesome he also talked about hiking in the Himalayas and that was awesome too!! It made me miss football when he was talking about his career!! I hope ASU doesn't do too well so I don't miss anything hahaha!!

Czech is still super hard but i am getting better as bad as I am at it.  I honestly can't wait to get over there and use it!! My teachers tell us that they love it when we try to speak it so that will be a fun experience!! 

On Tuesday we got to here from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Presidency of the Seventy. he gave a fantastic talk on just how important prayer is also that you have to have a firm testimony in the gospel and if you dont then you wont be able to teach it!

I would just like to say that i have a firm belief in this gospel and I cannot wait to share it with the people of the Czech republic! I know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been resurrected and that he lives and that through his atonement our sins can be washed away so that we can live with him and our Heavenly Father again and through this gospel that I love so much we can become like them and live with them again for all eternity!!

Love, Starší Heywood

Pre letter:  Holy cow that was a jam packed week full!! Sounds like all is going well though! I got an email from Kennedy and said that they are going to be fine, hopefully that is true i was kinda worried when she told me that just because all the flooding in Texas (thank goodness for Mormon newsroom) but i have a feeling she will be all safe over there! yes the lst pictures you sent of the wedding were the best I appreciate all the pictures! I wish I would have been able to go I hope sometime during my life I will be able to get over there I love all that history! That's funny about dad and Brookes dad bonding and all over war movies!! When is the reception in AZ?? Are the fullers going to make the trip down to the heat?? I got some pictures from Jared of the honeymoon in New York looks like it was treating them very well!! Sorry about the videos i cant send them through my camera so i had to do it through email! Only a week half more of the mtc and i could not be more ready to leave this place! we should get our flight plans tomorrow evening so ill send a pic so look for it!! I gotta switch my laundry so I'll be back on about 3 so if you have any question send them over! 

Letter:  Hello all!! I hope everyone had a fantastic week of vacation and wedding and honeymooning(Brooke and Jared) Dana hope you are safe on your way up to school! So my week was as good as it can get in the MTC when youre here 8 weeks! But big news we should receive our flight plans tomorrow evening so hopefully that will push through this next week and a half!

So highlight of the week was Tuesday night Elder Dallin H Oaks came and spoke to us! It was amazing his talk covered so many topics but the one that stood out to me was when he talked about the resurrection. He called it one of our fundamentals of our beliefs and that just really hit me, Its true then he talked about like why do we have temples if we don't believe in the resurrection because if we didn't then all the temple work we did for people of past generations would be pointless! I dont know he just explained it so cool it was an amazing talk! He also talked about the Book of Mormon being the best conversion tool and I have a testimony of that it is so true!!

Other than that nothing really happened other than we got a new teacher so now we have 3 which is pretty nice so we can focus more on the language and get more help when needed which is quite a bit! Yeah the MTC isnt too exciting and that's ok I'll be out soon!!

The wedding in DC looked awesome, I loved getting all the pictures Jared and Brooke you guys looked pretty good!! and man The DC Temple is beautiful!! I also hear Grandpa did a fantastic job on the sealing; I wish I could've been there with all you guys. But I know that this is where the Lord wants me and I love learning more of the Evangelium Ježiše Krista Každy Den a jeho Usmíření!!

I love you all!! have a great time at the reception down in good ole Arizona play some pickleball at the Bakers for me!!!

Love Starší Heywood

Hello everybody!! CONGRATS BROOKE AND JARED on the wedding you guys look so good in the pictures that I have seen maybe you guys could send some hard copies one day! Seeing all you guys in DC made a little homesick but I totally knew it would! I am fine don't worry! Also Brooke congrats on going through the temple! The temple is such a blessing I'm going to be really sad in the field because there is no temple in the area. So go as much as possible!

 SO my week has been pretty good I am not going to lie the MTC is starting to get old and I'm ready to get out in the field and get to work! But nope still got about 3 more weeks! But exciting news we will probably receive our flight plans this next Friday which is a big deal for us 9 weekers!! Also some other exciting news we had our first skype TRC with members in the Czech Republic and lets just say it was awesome but man it was challenging to understand them for sure!! I could pick out little words here and there and kinda get what they were saying but still a great experience!!!

Highlight of the week was definitely finishing the Book of Mormon this last Friday! SO amazing The Book of Mormon is true and is the most important tool in converting the people, other than the spirit! Also I started to read Jesus the Christ which has been amazing so far and it has made me realize how important our relationship is with our Savior! Its been crazy to think back on when He has been their for all of us in our daily lives! I love this gospel so much!

So thats about it for me sorry theres not much to write about the the days here are all the same so sorry that my letters arent very eventful yet! I'm sure they will be once we get to the field which I cannot wait for!!

Also ASU has their first game tonight I expect a short little summary on how they are doing and their game scores! Also I heard it through the grape vine that Gilbert won their 1st football game I would also like updates on them please!!

Love you all!

Starší Heywood

P.S. Brooke, Welcome to the Family!!

Ahoj again

I am finally on the down hill of my MTC stay we hit our 1 month mark last Friday so we got one more to go here at the MTC!! Nothing really cool or exciting this week happened just class and some nasty mtc food! Man the food was not good at all this last week and feel like i have starved so today after the temple we went to the cafeteria and ate breakfast there and man it was so good it was actual real food!! 

The most exciting thing that has happened was getting new Croations in the zone yesterday and so get this so we had TRC last night and our teacher Bratr Knapp got a call during class and it was his mission president telling him that he was coming to do TRC so me and elder Fuqua taught the old Czech/Slovak  mission president it was a little intimidating but our lesson was pretty good and he was impressed with our Czech for only being here 5 weeks so that was a confidence booster!! 

Nothing else really cool or exciting happened other than that at raging headaches after a grammar lesson!! All is well but the days are starting to drag and get longer this past week i hope they speed up again! I am really anxious to get to the Czech Republic and actually start to go out and work!!! I love the Mtc but i am most ready for a change of scenery! I hope everyone enjoys the wedding next week and has a safe flight over there! Please send a lot of pictures of the whole thing!! I wish i could be there!! And Brooke good luck with going through the temple!! Hahaha its going to be awesome; I really wish I could be there for that! 

Oh and the solar eclipse was awesome! A polish elders mom sent a whole bunch of glasses so that how we watched!!

Ahoj

Hey Fam another week down so that is 4 down and 5 more to go! Im not super sick of the mtc yet but I'll be there soon!! So this week was crazy good! We had not one but 2 Apostles speak to us this week it was amazing! Sunday, Elder Russell M Ballard spoke to us on keeping our hearts locked and keeping focused on the mission and how it is easy to get distracted out on the mission and to keep focused!!  Tuesday night Devo, Elder Neil L Anderson spoke to us! He spoke about how we need to keep our flame of faith lit  at all times and also talked a lot about prayer and how important it is to have that relationship with our Father in Heaven! Also they broadcasted the devotionals around to all the other Mtcs. I don't know if you can watch them but Tuesday night I sang in the Choir and I'm pretty sure I got on the big screen but not sure maybe you guys can watch it and see if you can see me! So those were great additions to the week!! 

Czech is getting better I have finally started to form some of my own sentences on the spot rather than looking at the book so that is a big win for me!! But it is still really hard! I don't know if you know what cases are but Czech has 7 of them and it just destroys my brain but that alright the gift of tongues is real!! So last night we had TRC which I love that were we going to teach like a family home evening lesson to returned missionaries and it is so awesome they are so nice and will help with Czech its just so much better than teaching a fake investigator because these are just real people! Also next week I think we get to Skype some members in the Czech for TRC so that will be super cool!! 

We get to help out again with tours this Saturday morning so I am super excited to do that again!! oh quick story during TRC we were teaching and elder Fuqua was trying to say when do you feel the love of god in spur life and he totally blanked and said Kdyz se posit.....škoda which translates too when do you feel like crap! man it was so funny the guy was super fun about it so we had a good laugh!!  All those missionaries that I took pics with that I sent on Sunday were all the Adriatic North missionaries or the Croatians as we call them it was their last Sunday so went and did a temple walk with them after lunch!! They leave this Sunday and I am super sad that they are leaving they are so much fun and they know how to have a good time!! 

That's about all the really happened this week! I would just like to add that I love you all and someone send me Brooke's Email so I can put her on this she's only going to be part of the family in like 2 weeks! How is all the wedding stuff going when do you all head out to DC?? Send me a lot of pics of the wedding! All I ever wanted was a new sister for my Birthday!! Also Brooke this sentence is for you. Your anniversary will not be an anniversary in Jareds eyes he will celebrate a good hour or two with you then go right back to mourning for Baja because that's what they did to me for my bday!! 

I love you all and my testimony of the gospel is growing every second here! The Book of Mormon is true it is the Evidence that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and that we really do have His Priesthood.

Starší Heywood

Jak se Mate

What is up family?? This week was amazing I have some great experiences to share! First off, fast Sunday was soooo long holy cow I thought i was going to die of hunger but it was all made up for because we had an amazing devotional that night.  Jenny Oaks Baker who is the Daughter of Dallin H Oaks came and she is an amazing violinist!! She was kinda prideful and she wasn't the greatest speaker but man the music was amazing!! After that the Whole mtc was required to listen to the talk The Character of Christ by Elder Bednar which is an amazing talk so after that Elder Bednar walks in with his wife and everyone was going crazy!!!! It was so awesome they were just like we have a surprise for all of you Elder Bednar will be walking in any moment!!! He did a Question and Answer for about an hour and a half and we didn't get back to our residency till about 10:15 it was awesome! His answers were so perfect! but the best part had to be his testimony at the end it was so amazing i cant put it into words!! 

The Czech is coming slowly but surely Elder Fuqua and I had a great lesson on Monday we taught our investigator who is actually our teacher but you still get that same spirit in those lessons so we started the plan of salvation with him and taught all the up till the atonement so we just finished the fall with him! And the thing about those lesson is that we know enough Czech to understand what he is saying but struggle on replying but they still go really good and I actually answered some of his questions really well! Man, the Days are long and I've never had so many headaches but I love it and love the work! 

Last night we worked the tours from 5:30 to 9 it was packed with a lot of youth groups doing tours for mutual! Our section was so awesome we were at the end and got hang out with them then we would fill them up into a zone room and share a quick testimony then share a video about the MTc and Missionary work! It was such a great experience and was so nice to actually talk to real people and we got to work on our Czech because they would want us to say stuff in Czech it was so cool! You guys can all probably look up the video on lds.org or something I highly recommend it and you get a little look at the new buildings and what is new!! 

Also my spiritual experience for the week came during personnel study I have never had a chapter of scripture hit me so hard!! I was reading Alma Chapter 34 and I challenge everyone to read it this week! It just talks about how the Atonement is essential to the plan of salvation and that Jesus is the Christ man it is a powerful chapter! Also this week I finished Alma woohooo personal study is the best because the last 15-20 mins i get to just the Book of Mormon which is the best! that's about all that happened this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Heywood

Ahoj rodinu, jake se mate?

The second week of the Mtc honestly flew by it was crazy how fast the week went. I hope it stays like this because I am here for 7 more weeks woohooo! Sounds like everybody is having a great time in good ole Arizona, the beach sounded short but fun for most of you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!! Let me know if he wants anything from the mtc store because that's about all I can buy at the moment haha. 

Elders Heywood and Fuqua

Czech Zone

This week was super good. we have taught a lesson in Czech everyday this week so that was super good but way rough. Czech is coming very slowly but its all good I just need to keep working at it. Because of the language barrier I have really learned to rely on the spirit during lesson, because that is the real teacher not the missionaries. So last night we had our first TRC that is were we go and give like a 20 min lesson to rms so of coarse all our return missionaries came from the Czech it was a great experience and they gave us some advice on our teaching and language. They told our teachers that they thought it was our 3rd time doing TRC but it was our first so that was a plus for the week. 

This past Sunday Elder Fuqua and I taught Priesthood on Keeping the Sabbath Holy so and it turned into great discussion and it had to be one of the strongest times I have ever felt the Spirit! so I would just like to say to Mom and Dad thanks for always making us do the right thing on Sundays! So I think Fridays are the best days because we kinda have the night off so our zone gets together and we play games which was super fun. Also Friday is Field Friday so our Zone goes and plays Kickball which is fun. I love my zone we have so many fun people in it. Oh and also our zone goes to the temple in the mornings instead of the afternoon so its not super crowded which is super nice. Its also a great way to start off P-day. 

Honestly that is really about all that has happened this week. I guess I could tell you guys that Czech is the 2nd hardest language to learn behind all those asian languages haha. The tours are still going so we still feel like zoo animals with people taking pictures of us while we eat so that's fun. Lastly I would just to testify to you guys that i know that this is the true and restored gospel of Jesus Christ and it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I love you all

Love, Starsi Heywood

P.S. Thanks Jared and Brooke for the wedding invite it means a lot and Brooke tell your mom thanks for the letter.