Ostrava is Great.

The weather like I have sid in past emails is PERFECT.  The other day I got a little bit of a burn too!  (Nothing happy about that.)  :)

 

Since our baptism a few weeks ago, things have slowed down quite a bit.  We are trying to teach a bunch of lessons, but it is difficult.  People keep cancelling.  YOu know what this means.... Soon, something amazing will happen.

 

Last Monday we as a district (all the missionaries in Ostrava) had a presentation at a university.  It went better that we thought.  We taught about the Restoration of the church of Jesus Christ, then we passed out a little booklet about it with our contact information.  No calls yet, but I hope we influenced people for future missionaries.  Someday a missionary companionship will get a call and have a really cool investigator.

 

Something I would like to share that I have learned so far since starting my mission.  It is something I am really proud to say now.  I have learned from my companion this transfer to turn outward.  I enjoy serving people now.  I will gladly share.  I still have many other improvements I need to make in many areas, but that is one thing that I have learned since being out here.

 

Often our district or even just our companionship will go to this really good restarant here.  It is vegetarian.  Here is the thing though.  It is REALLY good food!  It costs 80 Kč (around $4) and you get FREE water (Free water is VERY rare) and you can just keep asking for more until you are full!  Not just these dishes, but almost all Czech dishes are very good.  The other day I had fried cauliflower.  It was delicious.  Something very intersting though (by interesting I mean I won't get it again) is Carp soup with dill.  I had that with a fried block of cheese a couple weeks ago and, one I felt the cheese going through my veins and two, the soup... hmmm.  I didn't want to finish it.  It wasn't horrible soup, it was just past the point of maybe trying again in the futrue.

 

Speaking of food, every Sunday I make bread for my compaions.  I have been teaching one of them too, now he makes better bread than me.  But yesterday, We decided to make cinnomon rolls.  For all the bread and other food made, we have not had recipes, but it somehow turns out fantastic.  Yesterday's cinnomon rolls were NO exception.

 

The other day we went to find some less active member.  No one was home, some people were the wrong address, and some move a LONG time ago.  Something cool though, we saw the Google Maps car taking the pictures as it drove around.  My companions and I stopped and faced it as it drove by.  The driver knew exactly what we were trying to do and started chukkling.  We tried our best to make it look inconspicuous.  I even took out my planner and "pretended to find an address."  When ever they update it, we should be at the intersection of Kranichova and Hladnovská in Muglinov, Ostrava, Czech Republic.  :)

 

Yesterday at church was great.  This week we decided to do Czech learning week.  Our goal was to speak 100 hours of Czech during the week.  Sunday, I realized how much it helped.  I understood all of church!!!!!  I was so excited.  I see miracles every day here.

 

Anyway, I've got to go.  Take care this next week and find things that make you happy and share it with people.  Oh, can't forget - Replace fear with faith.

 

Starší Bahr

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Great Week!

This week was a good one.  We didn't get a lot of lessons but we worked hard.

 

First, I forgot to mention something I did last week!  We took part in "Mormon Helping Hands".  It was in Czech though, so it was "Mormonské Pomahajicí Ruce!"  We cleaned a park.  It was funny, 5 of the 7 missionaries wore shorts (including me).  We finished the first park and we were on our way to the other park we were planning on cleaning and we were told to go home because we weren't dressed warm enough.  :)  It is not a big deal at all, it is just funny.  We were fine, but a Czech culture thing is to pretty much wear a jacket, no matter what the weather is until about the middle of May.  The service was fun though and we got a lot done.

 

Speaking of weather, it is beautiful out.  The trees are turning green and the flowers are blooming.  Also, the bees are coming out.  The bumble bees here are HUGE!!!!! They are like the size of a nickle around!  If you open your windows to your apartment, aparently they will start flying in.

 

We did some tracting this last week and found a lady that was so happy we came by.  She was in tears.  She told us we are sent from God.  We are coming back in a couple weeks when she gets back from Poland.  I had almost no trouble with the language while we were speaking.  I believe it was because the Holy Ghost was so strong and helping me speak.  She insisted on paying for a Book of Mormon, but we declined and said it is free.

 

Today we have a presentation at a university, so with us luck.  I will talk more about it next week!  :)

 

We had lunch with a member this week who was a member during communism.  He showed us his Book of Mormoms from that time that were disguised as Karl Marks books.  It had a KM on the front.  During communist times, tesimonies would be written in English in the front, saying to read this book and the spirit of the Lord would come into your life.  I asked him where I could find one of these and he went over to his shelf and took of the top another copy and gave it to me.  He also gave me a Doctrine and Covenants.  I will attach a picture.

 

Nothing else really happened other than the usual.  I am seeing miracles every day here.  I know the church is true and I am out here for a good cause.  Have a good week this week and replace fear with faith, like I always say, and everything will turn out fine.

 

I love you all and thank you for all your support,

-Starší Bahr.

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Šli jsme do Prahy.

I am writing today because yesterday I was in Prague doing visa work.  It is already time to renew visas!

 

One thing I remembered from last week was about conference.  We had a fun time with it and I don't know why I forgot this main point about it.  We did not have conference DVDs until about an hour till it started.  The DVDs never made it here for us to watch so we had to scramble around to get copies off the internet from members.  In the end we watched it all, so that is good.

 

I might have told you about an investigator named Štefan last week, but maybe not.  Anyway, we have a new investigator that we got during a singing display.  He told us in one of our meetings a week ago that right before I contacted him, he had been praying for guidance.  It is great to see the Lord working through us.  A lot of times we don't see the impact we have on people, but it is a special treat when things are pieced together to show that our Heavenly Father cares about all of us.

 

Last week an interesting thing happened.  One of my companions was gone in Brno for training for being a district leader and so my other companion Starší Clyde and I went around that day.  We walked out of a store and saw this man trying to get peoples' attention.  Other people that walked around him were making fun of him or being rude and disrespectfully ignoring him.  My companion and I were nervous about what the man needed and we thought maybe it was a mentally ill man (there are quite a few) doing what a mentally ill man would do.  I continued to walk past him and he grabbed my arm and started talking to me.  I started talking with him to and I noticed that he was blind and lost.  He had been trying to get help from people to find his way.  I helped him to where he needed to go and felt bad that people were so mean to him.  One guy around him was stomping his foot at the man to scare him.  We walked away and I led him to where he knew where he was and let him go.  After I walked away I thought about the story of the Good Samaritan from the scriptures.  I am glad that I can represent the Church of Jesus Chist in so many ways.

 

As I said earlier, I went to Prague yesterday.  That is also what the letter title means.  Pronouced like this: "Shle-e sme doh Prahee."  We went there for paper work and it was fun.  We woke up for a 5:30 train and went.  We got there and got mail; of which I got a letter from my brother Adam and my two nephews Ethan and Justin.  They drew me pictures.  Then we went to lunch with the APs and office Elders.  It was good I got curry pasta.  Then we went around and saw the inside of Prague Castle, the outside, and went across Charles bridge, then wandered around a bit more.  It was fun.  There were SO MANY tourists!  The most of them were French or Japanese.  Then we got visa work done and went around some more.  We went to the Česká Kuchyně for dinner.  It is the place we went to when we first arrived in the Czech Republic.  It was our very first meal here.  It was good food!  We had trouble finding the place though and ended up asking 5 different people for directions.  Only one knew where it was and it just so happened to be jsut down the road from him.  We got our food, I got Svíčkova, and we left for our train.  We missed our train because we went the opposite direction from the restaurant.  We kept thinking: "Oh, this looks familiar!"  It wasn't though... :)  So we finally made it there and came back to Ostrava, getting back around 9:15pm.  It was a fun trip.

 

Though being a missionary is difficult at times, I am glad I am.  I just need to replace fear with faith.  Then things get easier.  Take care this week everyone and be happy!  Thank you to all who support me and encourage me!  I love you all!

 

Starší Bahr

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Conference Weekend in the Czech Republic!

This week we had conference.  It was this week because we had to get a translated version into Czech.  It was a good conference.  All the missionaries had it in English in a different room.  I learned a lot from it.  I was able to get some personal revealation for my investigators here. 

 

Last week I said that I would be writing about something this week.  We had a baptism!!!  Our investigator Adam Hotový was baptised last Saturday.  It was a great site to see.  He had been waiting for an answer and he got it the week before the baptism.  He had said "You say an answer would come, so I trust you."  We were nervous when each lesson we asked if he received an answer annd he said not yet.  He is our age and has been asking a few questions about missions.  I hope he decides to serve a mission because that will only stregthen his testimony.

 

I am writing short because I have limited time to email this week and I don't type very fast.  Nevertheless, I am happy to write to you all.  I would have emailed yesterday but seeing as it was Easter and every Czech celebrates it, all the stores and libraries were closed.

 

Lately we have been doing weekly district finding.  We love to do street displays, of which we sing while a couple missionaries contact people.

 I apologise that I don't have more to write.  The things I wrote about were the most important to me.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter Holiday.  Remember that that day is to remember Christ, not candy, rabbits, and eggs.

 

Replace Fear with Faith and take care this week.

 

P.S.  There are a few people I said that I would write letters to.  It is difficult to find time to write back, but it will happen eventually.  I have not forgotten you.

 

S Laskou, Starší Bahr.

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Baptism!

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Not Much for this Week, but for Next Week.....

Again, I blink and realize it is Monday.  I hope everyone is doing well and happy for Spring!  It is warming up here to and there are a lot of birds and sun, and warmer weather.  I love it.  The city of Ostrava in blossoming not only with flowers, but with the gospel.  Next week I will be able to write about something really exciting happening this Saturday!  You will see next week!

 

This week we had a specialized training (zone conference).  It was a good one. At the end, we sang our mission song and like always, it got to me.  I get emotional every time!  Back to the conference.  We learned about how to teach more unified as a companionship.  We learned something from Sister Irwin too, the mission president's wife.  I don't remember what she said, it just inspired me to be a more humble person.  Sister Irwin in an angel.  :)  We also heard testimonies from departing missionaries.  One of the testimonies included a personal story that prompted me to write a letter to my mom, who I love so dearly, and tell her how much I appreciate her.  I really do appreciate her too.  Lastly, I got to have an interview with President Irwin.  I always look forward to spending a few moments to talk with him personally.

 

Our companionship is awesome.  Starší Clyde, Starší Stimpson, and I are in the Přivoz area of Ostrava.  We work so well together.  This transfer, if all works out, we could see 5 baptisms!  We like to serve eachother.  Starší Stimpson came up with a fun way to serve.  We fight.  Whenever there is something that needs to be done, like the dishes, ironing our shirts, etc.; we fight over it.  Sometimes while one of us who is ironing our shirts walks out of the room, another one of us will try to iron it real quick before he comes back in to finish this shirt.  We have so much fun together.  We laugh at so many things, but when we need to be serious, we do it.  Our lessons are so great!  We feel the spirit so strong as we teach!

 

Something funny that happened this week was we were waiting at a tram stop and some guy came up and asked us where we were from.  We said Amerika and he just started laughing.  He continued to name off all 14 languages that he apparently knew how to speak.  One was German.  We spoke a bit and then got on the the tram and spoke some more.  We even spoke to Czech people in German, like when he asked this lady if she wanted to sit down where we were about to sit.  We spoke some more, talked about our families, where we grew up, etc., and I gave him a pamphlet about our church and I left.  Throughout the whole thing, he was so giddy.  He laughed at everything.  It was all because he was so drunk.  It was great to get a chance to speak some German, and to share the gospel a little bit, but it is too bad that he probably will never remember it.  The gospel is for everyone.

 

A great experience:  Yesterday on the tram I had a feeling to talk to this guy that was probably 26 or 27 and he had his headphones in.  Regardless, I spoke to him.  He didn't believe in God because of his circumstances.  We got off the same stop. We spoke a bit more to a cross walk and it was red for us but no cars were coming, so he crossed.  I stayed to be safe.  He kept walking.  I felt panicked.  I didn't want to loose him.  He really needed the gospel.  I prayed that he would wait for me.  He stopped at a Trafika to buy cigarettes at the window, walked a little bit and stopped.  He decided to wait for me.  So we talked a little bit more and I gave him our card.  As I talked to him, I felt the Holy Ghost working RIGHT THROUGH ME.  I promised things that were pretty bold to promise, without hesitation.  I hope he calls us.  That day, I felt love for people that I have never felt before.  I had always wondered how you can love someone that you just barly met.  I can see it now.  As I teach with the spirit and do it with charity, I will feel this way.

 

I love being a missionary.  All is well here and I see the hand of the Lord in this work.  Remember what I say every week; 'Replace Fear with Faith' and all will go well.  Take care this week and continue to strengthen your testimonies of our Savior every day.

 

Starší Bahr

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