Just keep going, eventually we'll get there.

Sorry to those of you who just love to read my novels, but this post will probably be pretty short. Simply because today was not as eventful as the past days.

This morning I had made plans with a friend to go to the bank and run a few other errands around town, but she called me this morning saying she felt terrible and couldn't go. Naturally, I took this as my cue to keep sleeping. :) When I finally aroused (at what time is irrelevant) I took my time getting ready and took care of a few wedding details (because you know, I'm getting married in 4 months and 9 days!). I decided that today would be the day I was going to figure out how to get places on my own, rather than rely on other people to lead me. I got out my map and scrutinized every street and every tram stop, trying to figure out the quickest, yet most direct paths to each of my destinations. When I felt confident enough in my plans, I started to head out the door, stopping only to tell Magda I was leaving. She asked me which tram I would be taking to get to the Faculty of Arts (where all my classes will be) and when I told her, she grabbed a pen and paper and insisted my way was certainly not the best. (haha, i love her) She gave me a much better route and pointed out that the maps we'd been given at orientation were actually inaccurate and only useful for finding certain things. SO, with Magda's directions, I headed to my czech language course via Bus 25/26. I was feeling pretty good about getting there, when all the sudden the bus stopped in the middle of the road, turned off, and the driver began bundling up and adorning himself with a brightly colored safety vest. At this point, I started worrying that the bus had broken down and that I was going to be dreadfully late for class. My only sense of consolation was in the nonchalant way the other passengers on the bus continued their conversations. A few minutes later, when the bus was back in motion, I had to laugh at my newly learned bit of information - Apparently there is a certain point along the route during which the bus driver must hook the wires that suspend suspiciously around the city like a spider's web onto the bus. Who knew? Not me, that's for sure.

In class I learned some more czech (Honestly, I learned more about how complicated the czech language is. I guess that's what you get from a language that's had thousands of years to evolve.) After class me and a couple other girls headed to Freedom Square to buy some groceries and a few other things. I felt pretty good because I was able to direct us back to Vinarska and then to Tesco correctly. The city is slowly becoming more and more manageable. In Tesco we tried out a few of the new words we've been learning (much to the amusement of our czech audience) and chanced upon a whole shopping mall! In the mall, we found some dinner (Czech Chinese food... interesting, to say the least) and even some gelato! It was so yummy. We are actually going back tomorrow and I'm going to bring Magda because she's never had gelato! On our way back to Vinarska, we met two American Mormon boys on the tram. They were very friendly and we chatted a bit about our time in the CR and such. Just a random bit of information for you. Apparently the Mormons even have missionaries in Brno, Czech Republic! They even have a church where they give free english lessons and a whole gymnasium (where they invited us to come play ping pong. haha) I think we (those of us who care about the Cross and what it stands for) need to kick it up a few notches!

Anyways, that's all for today. Tomorrow I have my official tour of Brno, so hopefully I'll have a few more pictures!

Today you can be praying for my friend Stephanie. She's from Virginia and when asked by the mormons about her level of religiosity, she claimed "antireligious." She's very sweet and desperate for love. Pray that she comes to see that Love is desperate for her.

I love you all so much and think of you often.
Sam, today I thought I saw you and my heart stopped a little. Thankfully I realized it wasn't you before it was too late for my heart. I miss you like crazy.

(sorry everyone else who is reading this. i guess i could've told him that privately..)

I don't really have any specific prayer requests for myself. Just continue to pray that God would receive the glory in everything I do. I have been so blessed and am even a little overwhelmed at how gracious God is. But I'm certainly not going to complain about it! ;)

Dobry Vecer, My Beloved. :)