Hello Dear Readers,
Greetings from the Prague Mission Home! This is Laurel's sister, Teresa, here for a visit with my husband, Taylor. The McConkies have graciously allowed me the privilege of writing this week's entry in what my Arizona family calls the 'Prague Blague.'
Greetings from the Prague Mission Home! This is Laurel's sister, Teresa, here for a visit with my husband, Taylor. The McConkies have graciously allowed me the privilege of writing this week's entry in what my Arizona family calls the 'Prague Blague.'
Friday, October 11th, Laurel and James both were at the
Prague airport to greet us. I was so
excited to see them and hug them and talk to them in person again! Laurel had bought us yummy pastries and fruit
and yogurt drinks to eat in the car. It was so thoughtful of her.
We stayed awake after we got here until bed time, which was easy to do if we were moving. We took a walk to a huge metronome, which is right by their house. Incredible view of the city.
Laurel took us to the mission office, where we got to see James in his element and meet the wonderful office Elders and Sisters. What an amazing crew!
James
took us to an Indian restaurant lunch buffet while Laurel picked up the kids
from school. He and Laurel go there for
dinner or lunch almost every week. It’s
very close, has delicious food, and super-nice Indian servers. We met lots of missionaries on the main floor
of the church, toured the church and house, opened our suitcase full of
presents, and hung out with kids. Two Sister Missionaries ate dinner with us
because Laurel invited them up as she bumped into them on their way to the
store. We ate bread and cheese and a
lovely salad made by President McConkie.
Goodies from the States - This is George & Hyrum's room.
Saturday McConkies walked us
to the castle, then went back to watch Conference with their branch and
missionaries (a week after it aired in the U.S.).
Laurel and James drove us to a big
grocery store called Billa, where they go every Saturday night. They stocked up
for the week. My, it's fascinating to see all the foreign stuff! There is lots of chocolate – even in their
granola and yogurt. The Diet Coke is
called Coca Cola Light and tastes like Pepsi.
There is a wide variety of juices that we don't see at home. A McConkie
favorite is Multivitamin, which is a mix of lots of fruits and some vegetables.
We Arizonans were surprised to come halfway around the world and find prickly
pear cactus juice in the supermarket here.
James and the boys got up in the
night to watch the Utah football game against Stanford. To make the streaming video work, we had
Taylor’s [Windows] laptop connected through a VPN in California, then
logged into Jens’ Comcast account in SLC.
They were excited to tell us about the win the next morning. They were amazingly cheerful all day for how
sleepy they must have felt. This photo shows the BYU and Utah nutcrackers sent by Grandmother and Granddad.
Sunday Taylor and I took a walk to the
metronome park again Sunday morning while McConkies and their branch watched
General Conference. The kids opened a
fun package from their home ward. It was
full of treats and lots of love notes.
The kids were especially excited about the Frosted Flakes!
We had a
super-delicious dinner made by James, then I went on a walk with Laurel and the
3 boys while they threw the football around. We mostly walked by a bunch of
embassies. I love how they all are so different. I took a photo of Laurel in
front of the Argentina embassy. She had never seen it before.
We met some Sister
Missionaries at the front door of the church who were there trying to see
Conference. They had missed all of Saturday. They were from out of town and were
in Prague to renew their visas. They seemed so happy to be here at the mission
home. Laurel invited them and two Elders upstairs to watch Conference on her cozy
sofas with Evie who also had missed the Saturday sessions. They were so
grateful and polite. I asked Evie if she ever feels like a lot of her privacy
is gone because missionaries are in her home so much, and she said she always
has her bedroom to go to if she really wants to, but she usually just loves
being with the missionaries because they are so nice.
Monday there were workers here trying to fix
the jack-and-jill bathroom that stinks to all heck. They tore it up big-time
and it was loud. Poor Laurel had no idea what one worker was saying to her in
Czech. Luckily they found the problem –
the vent was hooked up to a sewer pipe in the attic. Ewww.
Laurel took the kids to school, then did a 7-minute exercise routine with me before
she went to weekly meeting at the office across the street. She meets with
James and the APs and all the office missionaries to mainly talk logistics and
mission needs. I went on a very long walk during her meeting.
Laurel came home and she and I walked
lots of big bags down the street to the recycling bins, where we sorted them
into paper, plastic, and cartons.
Then we walked down streets full of
beautiful buildings (mostly apartments, with shops on the main level) and
picked up James' dry cleaning. We saw an especially cool building with tall
spires near some statues of horses and a fountain. Then we
had yummy Vietnamese lunch near the subway. It was so great to sit there and
chat with my sis.
Laurel went to pick up Hyrum for his
violin lesson. Evie stayed after school for play practice, then took a bus to
dance. Wilson and George will came home from school via bus, then train. Those
two had guitar lessons here at the house with a teacher who grew up in
Chicago. After dark, Laurel and I hopped
on the subway and then walked through cobblestone alleyways in the city to get
to Evie’s dance lesson. Everything we
walked through looked like it was from a movie set. We found Evie, who said she had a good
lesson. She does modern dance on a second-floor studio with only
one other student. On our way home, a
branch member came jogging by and said hello.
We bought Trdelnik, which is kinda like a cinnamon roll but in a hollow cylindrical
shape.
The Mendenhalls are a senior couple
who work with the Young Single adults. Every Monday, they make dinner for the
YSA, and fill the whole church with amazing smells all day. They told me they
really like to cook. Good thing! James gave a lesson at the church for Young
Single Adult FHE.
For Family Home Evening, Hyrum asked
us each to tell a favorite part of General Conference. We did a good job helping each other remember
some great highlights. I need to read it
again soon. Our activity was watching
the first part of Mission: Impossible, where they are running through the
streets of Prague and it also shows a scene on Charles Bridge. So cool to know I have been to those places
now. I hear that last week’s FHE activity
was dancing in the kitchen to Michael Jackson.
Oh yeah. Can’t you just picture
it?
Tuesday I got up early enough (6:30) to read
scriptures with the very sleepy family on the couches. I went with Laurel and kids in the car to
school at 7:30, and Laurel gave me a tour of the International School of Prague. Wow, is it beautiful! She showed me the cafeteria and market where anyone
can buy food to eat there or take home.
There were Moms hanging out there in the lunch room to have PTA meetings
or socialize. Laurel bought a snack of
pears and butter cookies to put in Hyrum’s and George's backpacks which hung near
their classroom doors.
This is the cafeteria and market.
Some things I learned: The older kids have a schedule that changes
every day in attempt to not have the same class be first hour every day. They all have inside shoes that they keep at
school for PE. I love how the McConkie
kids attend school with students from several different countries, and they are
constantly learning about each other's cultures.
The drive to and from school is
pretty, and Laurel says it reminds her of Millcreek Canyon. She's a great driver on these narrow windy
roads!
Laurel and I took an exploratory walk by the castle and down into the former
moat. It is so lush and green. We ended up in town and we crossed a couple
bridges.
I liked hearing
about the American embassy and their fruit orchard on the hill, and Laurel’s
own story about how on one of the bridges in 1999 she told James she was
pregnant with Wilson. She took me down Charles Bridge stairs that Tom Cruise
ran up at the beginning of Mission Impossible. :-)
Back at the mission
home, James was there and he made us a lovely lunch. Seriously, who makes weekday lunch at home
look like this? President McConkie,
that’s who.
Wednesday as we were walking in town, Laurel
got a phone call from Elder Swenson, her Area mission doctor. It was his last
day of his mission, and he was calling to say good-bye. Laurel was so glad to
talk with him, and she cried as she thanked him for all he and Sister Swenson
had done for her family. I am grateful for people like the Swensons who help my
Sis with her duty as mission nurse and who are supportive in many other ways as
well.
For lunch we bought something at a
gyro stand that they called “kebab” that was so-ho yummy, especially the bread
it was in. We sat and ate and froze on a
bench. Some French guys asked Laurel
directions to the subway, and she happily led them to where they were supposed
to go.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school, George and Hyrum have sports classes,
and George also has bookmaking. Evie often has play practice. She's in Beauty
and the Beast musical at school. And guess what her part is? Beauty. Yep. And
on her vocal teacher's recommendation, she also auditioned for a choir that
will perform in London with students from several countries. I hope she makes it! How cool would that be?
This week Evie worked hard on a speech for a speech contest at school. She practiced it for us, and did great job teaching us what she has learned about extroverts and introverts. She did well on it at school and her speech made it into the semifinals! Evie also locked herself in a room for hours to do a practice PSAT. She took the real test the next morning.
Wilson often has his laptop out on the dining room table, and is supposed to submit most of his assignments online. He likes his art class and playing basketball at school. At basketball, he is one of the tallest ones, and some of the other students call him “Mr. Fantastic.”
Hyrum read us an essay that is surprisingly long for 4th grade. It was all about 'The Miracle of the Rugby Ball' that happened on one of the family Sun Valley trips. Nicely written! We also saw Hyrum cutting up grid paper to help him with times tables. I thought it was a cool way to visually learn multiplication and division.
George likes to show us what new books he gets from the school and 2nd grade libraries. He has read some to me, and he has become a really good reader! He also likes having The Harry Potter series read to him at night.
This week Evie worked hard on a speech for a speech contest at school. She practiced it for us, and did great job teaching us what she has learned about extroverts and introverts. She did well on it at school and her speech made it into the semifinals! Evie also locked herself in a room for hours to do a practice PSAT. She took the real test the next morning.
Wilson often has his laptop out on the dining room table, and is supposed to submit most of his assignments online. He likes his art class and playing basketball at school. At basketball, he is one of the tallest ones, and some of the other students call him “Mr. Fantastic.”
Hyrum read us an essay that is surprisingly long for 4th grade. It was all about 'The Miracle of the Rugby Ball' that happened on one of the family Sun Valley trips. Nicely written! We also saw Hyrum cutting up grid paper to help him with times tables. I thought it was a cool way to visually learn multiplication and division.
George likes to show us what new books he gets from the school and 2nd grade libraries. He has read some to me, and he has become a really good reader! He also likes having The Harry Potter series read to him at night.
James left town for five days, in the family car, to
visit missionaries in various other towns. He studied with a couple different companionships, taught six lessons with six different sets of missionaries, attended a missionary district meeting, and spoke in church in a town called Uherske Hradiste.
He also was headed to a Genealogy Conference. He stayed up until the wee hours of the
morning one night this week, before leaving town, writing a talk for that. He had to get it to the translator the next
day.
Laurel normally drives the kids home from school, but sometimes they take a bus
and a train. They each have a card that is good for all the transport around
town. Laurel adds money to it every once in a while. Here is Evie waiting for the bus to get to school.
Thursday Laurel, in the big mission van, drove the kids to
school, then took Taylor and me to the airport to pick up a rental car (we went
to Austria for a couple of days). Later in the day, she joined
some missionaries and members for street contacting. They sang together first, then some split
off to talk to people while the others continued singing Czech hymns. She had
prayed hard to be able to speak with those she needed to, and had a great experience. I think she is so brave and amazing!
Friday Laurel got to help
teach an investigator, and is hoping he comes to church next Sunday. She went to “Polar Bear” – a Czech lesson
with other missionaries. She said it got
its name from the bear who adapts to its environment as the missionaries are
trying to adapt to the Czech Republic.
Friday nights are game night for YSA at the church. This Friday the activity was carving pumpkins. George was the judge of the best ones.
Friday nights are game night for YSA at the church. This Friday the activity was carving pumpkins. George was the judge of the best ones.
Saturday was full of regular grocery
shopping and Saturday chores for Laurel and the kids. Laurel blasted songs like “Boogie Fever”
while they did their jobs around the house.
I have also seen her help kids with homework, sit at the piano for
Hyrum’s violin practice, make dinners, go shopping, drive to school and lessons, do laundry, listen to the kids talk
about their days, play games, and read to kids at bedtime. She is such a good mom
and is amazing at switching from mommy to missionary (and vice versa) whenever
she needs to.
Saturday afternoons are sports nights
with missionaries and investigators at the park. This weekend, Elder Osterloh, a former AP, is
back in the Czech Republic for a visit along with his parents and his U of U
basketball team-member brother. The whole McConkie family had been looking
forward to their visit, and the boys especially couldn’t wait to play
basketball together! They had a blast with the Osterlohs
at sports night.
Last night (Saturday)
Laurel invited local Sister Missionaries over to watch the General Relief
Society Broadcast. Two Sisters were from
senior couples, and four Sisters were 20-ish.
Evie and Laurel made them wassail and hot chocolate and served it in tea
cups on the table near the TV. The
Sisters loved being together like that, and Laurel wishes all the Sister
missionaries lived close enough to participate.
After the Broadcast, I joined them and went across the street to the
Indian Restaurant. What a great group of
women. They are strong in the Gospel and
so dedicated even though a lot of their days are pretty darn tough. I liked hearing about their highs this week
and about the different pre-mission experiences that helped prepare them to
come here. I felt lucky to get to spend
some time with them, and I am glad that Evie gets to have such amazing examples
in her daily life. They treat Evie like
a sister and they love her and Laurel so much.
Sunday we had our first
Prague Church experience today, and discovered they have an awesome
branch. That chapel was packed. Taylor and I used headphones so we could
listen to a translator. McConkies didn’t
use any, and just sat and listened. James
is still out of town, but when he is here, he is up on the stand because he is
the presiding church leader in both countries.
Taylor and Laurel and Wilson and I went to Gospel Essentials with the
missionaries, investigators, and new members.
That was quite full as well. We
had a great lesson on the importance of families. Relief Society was in the kitchen, and a
sweet return missionary (London mission) translated for us through our
headphones. I sat next to a new member
named Isabel who is from Angola. She has
the brightest, most gorgeous smile. She
is a student here. Her native language
is Portuguese, and she knows English well and now Czech. Wow.
Tonight the
McConkies hosted a dinner for lots of people in honor of Elder Osterloh’s
visit. He was here with his parents and brother. The Munros and Isabel and Elders Knapp and
Sewell were here, so it was quite the big group. Laurel set a beautiful table, and James made
delicious tomato soup. Sis. Munro made a
killer salad. Evie made super-good
chocolate cookies that we ate with ice cream.
It was so fun to see President and Sister McConkie doing what they do
most Sundays – hosting a big dinner and interacting with their
missionaries. They and their
missionaries are in awe of each other, and it is obvious they have a lot of
love and respect between them. Laurel
asked that everyone at the table share something about the visiting Elder
Osterloh, and it was nice to hear about their experiences and what a blessing a
good missionary can be to the McConkies, other missionaries, and
investigators. His own parents and
brother also spoke about him and the blessing his missionary service was to
them. I am grateful to him for being
that first face the McConkies saw upon their arrival, and for immediately
taking good care of them and helping so much in their transition. I felt lucky to be included in the evening.
Other Observations:
The mission home is
beautiful and spacious, with very high ceilings. It is decorated with a mix of Church art and
McConkie art and photos. This week,
Laurel bought pumpkins and a Fall decoration for her entryway, and she and the boys and I set
up a new Ikea coat rack and shoe rack. Laurel is loving it all every time she
goes through her door.
To get upstairs from back of the house, you must ring the doorbell and wait for someone in the house to buzz you in upstairs In the house, there is a phone-like thing on the wall for talking to the person at the door.
In the hallway and around the family
room and dining room, Laurel has fresh flowers in cute vases.
There are many McConkie family photo
books. They even have James' mission album out, as well as all their letters
from their 1999 internship in Prague.
There is a binder with photos and info about all the missionaries. The McConkie boys thought of questions to ask
all the missionaries, and they hand-wrote them on a paper that Laurel copied
for each missionary to fill out. When
each missionary goes home, he or she writes their testimony on the back of
their paper. After 3 years, that book
will be mighty full of missionaries and great testimonies.
When all is quiet in the house, some sounds we hear are cars driving by, electric trams, and sometimes the bells warning that a train is coming on the tracks run right along that same road. The wood family room floor shakes as the tram rumbles by. Around the corner by the front door of both the church and the mission office, the street is all torn up, and we can hear construction equipment throughout the day. We hear sirens a lot, too, and they sound like…. like the ones in movies filmed in Europe. McConkies are so used to them that they don’t remember what US sirens sound like.
McConkies have small
and interesting laundry machines. Rather than having a vent that goes to the
outside of the house, the dryer condenses the water into a container that needs
to be emptied out after each load. The dryer takes a long time to dry a load,
and McConkies usually hang dry their clothes.
The McConkie boys
are very into the old Star Trek lately, and look forward to a new movie each
weekend. George loves to tell me about what he has seen. I brought Napoleon
Dynamite with me, and George and Hyrum were glad to finally see what it is all
about. They also get to check out DVDs
from their school each weekend. This
weekend they watched The Truman Show.
Evie, as you know, is quite the baker. We have been fortunate partakers of red velvet cupcakes, a gingerbread-ish dessert, and some chocolate crinkle cookies. Her advisory class at school has a goal to bring more treats to school so Evie is trying to help with that effort.
Evie, as you know, is quite the baker. We have been fortunate partakers of red velvet cupcakes, a gingerbread-ish dessert, and some chocolate crinkle cookies. Her advisory class at school has a goal to bring more treats to school so Evie is trying to help with that effort.
I've never seen so many cobblestones. Streets, train tracks, sidewalks,
landmarks, town squares--just about anywhere. Evie loves taking photos of the
ground, and has quite the collection now. When her family is out site-seeing,
they all look up while Evie is looking at the ground taking a picture.
Evie's awesome feet collage above. Our cobblestone collage below.
There is uneven ground everywhere in Prague. Not just the cobblestones, but all the pavement all over has buckled from tree roots and years of weather. I have to watch the ground as I walk. When I want to look up because I see something amazing (which is about every 10 seconds), I have to stop so I don't trip. Nearly everything I see is photo-worthy. Even the inside of the post office is full of amazing murals on the walls. We got in trouble for taking a photo in there. Whoops.
You often need to
pay a few crowns to use the restroom in town.
Sometimes you put it in a slot which opens the stall door, sometimes you
pay a person, and sometimes you put money into a gate that opens and gives you
access to the restroom area. And
sometimes you get lucky and find a free one. Here's one in the Central Train Station where you put in coins to open a gate.
Crosswalks have beeping sounds -- slow ticks for stop, and really fast ticks to indicate that it's time to cross.
Most people in the touristy areas speak English and I am so grateful. I seriously feel so spoiled that they can answer my questions and sell me stuff in my own language even though I feel like I should be speaking theirs.
Laurel has been working on learning
the Mission Purpose in Czech. She recites it with the other missionaries in a
meeting each week, and wants to have it memorized. She practiced it several
times while I checked her words. Not that I would know if she is pronouncing
them right! But she now knows it by heart. Czech is such a hard language and I
am so proud of her! I'm so impressed
with Laurel when we are out in shops and she speaks Czech to the cashiers. Even when she doesn't know the words to use,
she is very good at cheerfully communicating what she needs. The other day in a
little flower shop, the cashier spoke no English, but the cashier and some
customers were very complimentary of Laurel’s Czech. Another time, a cashier
was crying elephant tears, and Laurel wasn’t quite sure what to say but she put
a reassuring hand on the lady’s arm and let her know she was concerned. So sweet.
The kids are out of
school for Fall break this week, and we get to play with them around the city
tomorrow before we skip town again. I
will always remember this fantastic trip that I got to take with my True
Love. And I will be forever grateful for
the experiences I have had here in Prague with my awesome sister,
brother-in-law, niece, and nephews. Thank
you for your support of this wonderful family on this unique, difficult,
rewarding adventure. They send their
love to you all.
Teresa Anderson
P.S.: Here are a few more photos that Laurel asked
me to post from a while ago:
The Christensens from Imperial 2nd came to
visit last month! McConkies love them.
Also, Evie celebrated her 16th birthday last week. Her family, friends and young women from the U.S. sent wonderful cards and gifts, and the missionaries all joined her for cake and ice cream.
Also, Evie celebrated her 16th birthday last week. Her family, friends and young women from the U.S. sent wonderful cards and gifts, and the missionaries all joined her for cake and ice cream.
