Hi! It’s me again! This week was my first whole week in Ohio. A lot of things happened this week. Let me tell you some of them.

The most important thing that happened right at the start of the week was moving from the pastor’s house to Skip and Donna’s house. I was pretty worried because, as you read last week, for my whole life I have been terrified of dogs, cats, and a lot of other animals. Skip and Donna have a dog name Joeline and a cat. But everything is so far so good. Joeline seems to love me and won’t let me stop petting her. So whenever I sit at the table to eat my breakfast or do anything else I must pet her. So I think I overcame my fear of living with a dog. But I think it will not be the same with other dogs.

On Monday we did our first visit. Pastor Eric and I visited Janey in the nursery home. Janey is a member of a church that has had health problems for her whole life. It was such a wonderful time with her. She was smiling the whole time as we spoke to her. Pastor also did a communion for her. To be honest it was the most beautiful nursery home I have ever seen! The building looks amazing inside and outside! The photo that I am attaching is from one of the hallways. After the visit, we went to church to pick up some things that remained from the rummage sale. We then went a give some of these things to a partner church in Cleveland called Redeemer. The church is located in a Hispanic part of the city and does a great job helping these people. We will gonna help them during the summer with programs for kids every Thursday. On Monday afternoon Skip took make to the brewery where he works and we brewed beer together. We did the recipe for Czech Pilsner since I am from the Czech Republic and I think the Czech beer is the best. We were joined by pastor Eric, Donna, Garth, and one of Skip’s coworkers Tom. It was a great time! We will come back in a couple of weeks to bottle the beer.

Tuesday morning is a time for sermon preparation. Pastor Eric and I went to a coffee shop and discussed the texts for the upcoming Sunday. This time was very beneficial for me because I really enjoy talking with people about the Bible and I like to listen to what different ideas people get from the same lecture. The interesting thing for me on Tuesday was that we went to a homeless shelter. We also brought some kind of donation from a rummage sale and I got to see what an American homeless shelter looks like. They were pretty busy when we came in!

On Wednesday I spent most of the day with Ray. Ray is a military veteran and he is a wonderful guy. He took me Downtown to see the places that he grew up in. Then we went to one of his favorite places – Westside Market! This market is back from the early 1900s. It is a beautiful place with a lot of fresh food. Ray wanted to get me something but I didn’t know what so I just told him that he can get me whatever he likes and I will try it. This way I ended up with two loaves of bread, 2 different kinds of sausages, 2 kinds of cheese, olives, stuffed peppers, dragon fruit, and 4 mangos. I did pick some of this stuff myself but mainly Ray did. He just loves this place and wanted to share this with me. And I loved the place and the food! For lunch, we went to Pizza Crust and the pizza was delicious! After lunch, we went to Medina, the city where Ray lives. It is so far the most historic city I have seen in the USA. We picked up Garth who also lives in this city and together we went to another place that Ray loves – Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. Ray as a military veteran, after he retired from the army, worked at that cemetery. He was the leader of his group that was doing some ceremonies. Ray told me that there are about 50000 graves! It was a big and fascinating place. All people buried here are military veterans. We also got to see one of the ceremonies. I really enjoyed that day! Ray is a great guy and I love speaking with him!

On Thursday we once again went to Redeemer. Pastor thought that the programs for children are already starting this week but they are starting next Thursday. This week we met all the volunteers that are helping in Redeemer’s activities that summer. Most of them are 12-13 years old kids. We also met all of Redeemer’s workers. I learned a lot about safety and emergencies and stuff like that. I am so thankful that we don’t need to face such an issue in the Czech Republic. It was interesting to compare these two cultures in this aspect. I also learned three kid’s songs on a guitar that we will sing with the kids in the upcoming weeks, so we also practice that with everyone that was there on Thursday.

On Friday we did another visit. We went to visit one older woman in a nursery home but we asked about her they said that she is in a hospital. So instead of visiting in the nursery home, we visited her in a hospital. Apparently, according to pastor Eric, the hospital we went to was to oldest and the worst hospital in Cleveland. To my surprise, it was a really beautiful hospital! In comparison to most of our hospitals, this was top class and I really liked it there. I am really glad that pastor Eric is taking me to all these visits. I am learning a lot through it. Tomorrow (Monday) we will do two visits, starting at 6 AM. During the whole week, we were also preparing things for Sunday service. On Friday evening one family from the church invited me and the pastor to a dinner in German restaurant Das Schnitzel Haus. There were about 16 people at that dinner!!! I didn’t expect that. I got Bohemian schnitzel just to try if it will taste the same as at home. It was good but I can’t imagine someone in the Czech Republic putting tomato and cheese on a potato pancake.

On Saturday I didn’t go to the office but Donna and her mother Ellen took me to a shop in an Amish country. They said that the shop change a lot. Before it was more of an Amish shop and now it is more touristy. I bought a few things including a cookie cutter in the shape of Ohio. So I can make Ohio cookies! Also, there was this beautiful exhibition of wood carvings done by Paul Weaver. It was so beautiful and amazing! He also did some Christian carvings including “The Crucifixion”. Look at all these details!

On Sunday I went to church as usual, but this time I wasn’t only a spectator. I sang a song from the hymnal before the service started (the name of the song is Taste and See), I was a reader which means that I read two lectures and a psalm and I also sang some of the liturgy. It was great to learn all of that new music! I enjoyed that! I am happy that I am more and more involved in the church! I will preach next Sunday so you can pray for me! After the church, we had some snacks and a lovely time together. In the afternoon Bob invited pastor Eric, Jeff, and myself for dinner at his house. It was a lovely time.

A thought that was in my mind this whole week is: “Don’t take away people’s blessing.” Being here in the US I am also learning a lot about how to receive things since everyone is buying me everything. Sometimes it is really hard for me. For a lot of us, it is easier to give than to receive. Also, pastor Eric’s sermon this Sunday was about blessing. I learned this week that receiving is as important as giving. When people want to bless you don’t take that away. When we give we are not blessing ourselves but we are blessing our surroundings. Keep that in mind.

Have a blessed week!