This Week Turned Out Fine!

Above average week!  That is good.  Fun things happened.  That is good.  Missionary work is great.  That is good.  Everything… is good.  This week, we didn't hit mission standards, but we tried and trying your best is all that God asks of us.  We are happy with the results.  So here it is:

20.8.12

                P-Day is always a nice day to relax and get ready for the next week.  We did what is needed, like buying groceries, emailing home, etc., and then went to the church building to write letters.  We got there and we as a district decided to play basketball.  There is a new hoop up.  The old one was broken.  We played in our missionary clothes too.  Well, we didn't play a game; we just shot a couple hoops.  It is funny to see missionaries play basketball in missionary clothes.  After that, we went back inside and wrote more letters.  Then it was Family Home Evening.  My companion and I didn't go because we had a lesson, but it seemed like it went well.  Our lesson went well.  It was with Ivo and about the word of wisdom.  He happily accepted the invitation to keep it.  He will see blessings from it.  After our lesson, we had another one immediately.  We taught Anna.  We were going to teach in the only room in the church building that had a TV, but it was being used, so most of our lesson plan got messed up.  It was a rough lesson.  We had no meat to the lesson.  This was a great learning experience though.  From now on, I may start making back-up lesson plans.  Hopefully then, things like this won't happen again.  I think she enjoyed the lesson still though.  She enjoys meeting with us and we hear things from her that strengthen our testimonies and hers at the same time.  Lastly today, we came home.  I realized I had put a glass Kofola bottle (full of Kofola) in the freezer for lunch to make it cold faster, so I opened the fridge and there was an exploded glass bottle with frozen Kofola everywhere.  Too bad.  I just need to pay more attention.  J  Until tomorrow…

21.8.12

                I am just a happy missionary!  I liked this day.  We had an awesome lesson with Ivo.  He is just great!  Family: I wish you all could meet him.  He is about 25 and super humble.  He is progressing nicely.  He is very cool.  Our lesson today was about baptism and confirmation – receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Our member there, Vašek, said everything we asked PERFEFECTLY.  We testified very simply.  It was such a spirit filled lesson.  I felt it and our investigator felt it!  These are the lessons that make a mission what it is!  Ivo is just progressing to baptism like crazy.  He is excited for it.  That was the highlight of the day.  As for everything else today, we had English class, meals, and some contacting.  Our contacting, we went on a tram toward the Brno zoo and got off then went on a walking path that leads to a dam and reservoir.  On our way down the path, we went saw a couple people sitting at a table on the property of their cottage.  We walked past and I said the "Good day" greeting in Czech and they said it back and one of them waved and put his hand on his heart to us. We kept walking and when we reached the end of the trail, we turned around to go back to the tram and a couple minutes later, we saw these same men and they had been waiting for us to come back and talk with them.  We talked with them a little bit about why we are here.  They knew we were missionaries for Christ.  One man spoke no Czech.  He was from Iraq.  The other was Czech and spoke the other man's language, so he translated what we said.  He was so happy he met us and he asked to get a picture with us!  Like I said last week, people are out there waiting for us!  I know that as we follow the spirit, we can be led to, well… for us, to those seeking the truth.  For you, the reader, I know that as you follow the spirit, you will be put in the path that the Lord wants you to be in and you will be blessed and bless the lives of others as well.  Other than these things, we didn't do too much else; we met a French kid on the square, we helped and older Jewish couple from Israel find some tourist places, we saw a kid off of work from the place that we get ice cream at all the time, which ice cream is very good.  It is raspberry sorbet and tastes like real raspberries.  Anyway, other than these things, it was a normal, good, missionary day.  You've got to love the life of a missionary.  It is a backstage pass to God's plan and how he works miracles in peoples' lives.  It is great!

22.8.12

                We had an outstanding day.  We had a zone conference.  We talked about using members more as we help out investigators.  This is how we will see real growth in the church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  Then we had some training by the zone leaders and they talked about teaching so people want to read the Book of Mormon.  A lot of times, we say "Oh, this book helps me in life and I know it can help you too.  Can we exchange phone numbers so we can call you sometime to meet?"  Even when we think we are sharing experiences, we still have not let them experience the blessings for them self.  Now, this is what I got out of it; As missionaries are on the street and talking to people, they are more focused on getting lessons set up than teaching someone and getting to feel the light of Christ in life.  I will pose a question and think about it:

                How often do we talk to people about all the good experiences we have had that they can have too, but then not share it with them – not letting them partake of the light of Christ as well?

                I hope as you share your testimony with people around you, you will give them opportunities to help them find the joy too that you have!

                The last part of the training, President Irwin spoke about how we can always be working 100% of the time.  He showed us a movie for the purpose of learning how to use our potential.  The movie was an older movie, I think called "The Quest."  It is inspirational.  It is a fictional story about a young man wounded in the army but doesn't let it get him down.  He went to a business and being SUPER optimistic said he was there to get the job.  The main boss, to see how worthy he is for the lob, tells him to buy a vase.  The boss makes it super difficult, but the main character gets is.  He did EVERYTHING he could to get it.  In the end, the boss told him what the test was and then hired him for his diligence.  My goal is to be just like this.  Be a super optimistic missionary and do all I can in my power to work for these two years.  The specialized training was a great one.  We then, after the training, had a couple lessons.  One was with the legendary IVO!!!  He soaks up all our lessons and tries to follow the commandments so he can be ready for baptism in a week and a half!!!  September 1st is quickly approaching!  He is getting excited, but like all, who prepare, is nervous too.  Pray for him!

23.8.12

                Today wasn't much.  We had 4 lessons on plan, but 2 fell through.  We still had a couple good lessons.  One was with, you guessed it… Ivo.  In this lesson, we tried to resolve any concerns and cheer him on.  He also had a nice "Get to know you" with the branch president, President Vít.  Other than that, it was a normal day.  The other lessons were kind of low key, regular lessons.  The other was just a spiritual thought with an American that has been here for some time.  He leaves next Tuesday back to America.  We also had a spiritual thought at our game night with the young single adults.  The rest of the day was filled with studies, meals, and finding people.  We just got home a few minutes ago.  Now, as I am writing this, my companion is making Halušky (Ha-loosh-kee).  This is the national Slovak dish.  Anyway… so it is dinner, planning, and then time to hit the sack for the late evening schedule.  We are both tired.  We were outside the majority of the day and it was hot and humid, about 40 degrees Celsius.  Tomorrow should be another outside day for us.  We have one lesson on plan.

24.8.12

                Today, we didn't have too much on plan.  We had a lesson, but he did not show up.  To je škoda.  (That is too bad.)  This is the second time we have planned to meet with this guy, but he keeps dogging our appointments.  So all else we did was weekly planning, which this time, we got to incorporate the step "Set goals and make plans for investigators being baptized in the coming week."  Ivo is getting baptized next week!  After weekly planning, we went to a small lake just outside of the city Lišeň and tried to talk to people there.  Most people were very nice and helped then come closer to Christ a little bit, even if it only was the slightest bit through testifying.  We couldn't find the foot path down to the lake shore, so we instead found a forest path that continued to lead down steeply to a parking lot by the lake.  It was a beautiful walk down and we met a nice man.  He helped us find our way better and then we talked about who we were.  He didn't recognize the name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" so we talked a bit more and then gave him our card and saw the picture of the Book of Mormon on it and said "Wait……… You are Mormons?"  We said yes and we explained why our church name was different than the name Mormons and we explained the Book of Mormon in a couple paragraphs.  Then we told him to give us a call sometime, then there was a little bit of silence and he thought for a minute, then said ok and we left.  His silence seemed clearly to us that he would call us some day.  I have faith he will.  Later today, we also talked to people in a big park here called Lužanky Park.  Nothing to big happened there.  Today was a mellow day, not too much came from it, but like I have said in the past – is still a valuable day.  Tomorrow will be a very good day.  The young single adults will go with us on the square tomorrow morning and we will draw with chalk the plan of salvation (God's plan for us).  It is raining right now though, so we will see.  I hope it dries up!

25.8.12

                Well, it dried up.  There were still clouds, but it worked out fine.  We were able to do our studies this morning then go to the activity on the square.  We drew the plan of salvation.  Those who drew did a very nice job.  A lot of people stopped, more than usual.  It was such a good idea to do this chalk thing.  It got peoples' attention and it was clear and simple to understand.  This will be the new way of missionary teaching!  Not really though… J  Oh, So funny story; Whenever we do big activities like this, I carry a German Book of Mormon, in case I or another missionary meets a German.  This morning, I debated… I couldn't decide if I wanted to carry the extra weight in my side bag and then not find any German people, or not bring it and miss out.  I eventually decided to bring it.  In our 2 hours of this, I had 6 different contacts in German.  Other missionaries, when they would fine a German would yell "German!" my way to have me speak to these people.  I would then talk with them.  My German skills are getting rusty!!!!  My Czech is a lot better.  We talked to this one man (In Czech) and explained the entire plan of salvation through the great drawing on the cement.

                It is possible that because I speak about German so much, you think I would rather be somewhere else.  Though I love the German language very much, that doesn't mean that I don't love the place I am in and the people who I meet here!  Those are two different things.  As I have gone through my mission here so far, I see the impact I have made on people here that would not have had that impact by any other person.  I know I'm here in the Czech Republic, speaking Czech for a reason.  The reason is because certain people need to hear what I have.  I help these people be what Christ wants them to be and they help me be what Christ wants me to be.  Every transfer out here (every time I switch cities) I think of who I had an effect on and how.  I just know that I am glad to be here.  I am thankful for all I have learned and anticipate what I will learn.

                Anyway, after going off on that tangent, also today, we went tracting.  We went house to house to find some people to teach.  No one was ready.  No one had interest, though… we did plant some seeds in their hearts.  After we went tracting, we went to our language study as a district.  We were in charge of the language learning game.  It was a fun game that I had learned in the past.

                Today was all in all, a good day.  We could have worked a little harder, like every day, but we did do what we could.  We are happy.  Moral of this short story for you is "Do what you can, and you'll be happy!"

26.8.12

                One sad day.  Our investigator who was on date for baptism this week texted us this morning saying he would be to church an hour late.  We said ok.  An hour rolled around and we got another text.  He told us that he actually couldn't be at church at all.  It was a personal reason, so no need to explain.  Our baptismal date this next Saturday will not be though.  He has a new date though.  We just need to work toward it and have faith.  He sure has faith.  He knows how he can prepare for his new date, and wants it.  So that happened.  We had one investigator at church though.  George came.  He didn't stay long, but it was good to see him.  After church, we got a text from a member here, who is just an awesome member.  His name is Brother Lambson.  He is from Arizona, served a mission in Germany, and now lives here in Brno with his wife and two girls.  One just born two days ago!  He works for AT&T.  Anyway, he invited us and our investigator Ivo, our investigator over for dinner that evening.  Ivo actually works for Brother Lambson!  We told him yes and called Ivo to invite him.  We fit studies in for the day then, that evening we went over to his house with Ivo.  Brother Lambson showed us a picture of his new daughter, talked with us, and fed us Sloppy Joes.  It smelled and tasted like home!  It was wonderful.  Then he gave us some ice cream and we had the spiritual thought.  The visit was wonderful.  It was great to have our investigator be invited to a member's home.  It was a nice welcome atmosphere and Ivo enjoyed it.  After that, we went home.  It was a nice day.  It turned out looking rough, and then it got better.

                This week, I have learned some more that I can apply to my life.  I learned how to be more humble.  This mission is a great method in which we can learn to become more like the savior.  I love the small and big things I learn here.  President Irwin, during an interview, me being a few weeks in the country said this: "This mission is an investment for the rest of your life."  I know that this decision is one I will never regret.  It is hard and trying at times, but is only setting me up for greater things.

                I hope everyone had a great week and seeing miracles from the challenges I give you almost every week.  If you haven't been trying them, what are you waiting for?  Blessings are awaiting!!!  Take the opportunity.  Replace fear with faith.  Enjoy this next week.  J

                -Starší Bahr

Reflection of Last Week - Great!

Like I said in the title, this week was good, and was a small refection of last week. It started out slow, but sped up to have some great experiences. So, enough with the boring intro, here is what happened this week. :)

13.8.12

Today was P-Day, after doing all necessities, we visited a castle. To be exact, it was the Brno Castle. Its name is Špilberk. It had a great history. We were lucky to be able to visit it because, castles and other historical sites are always closed on Mondays, but because it is summer break, they were open. We went through the tour of the prisoner cells and things like that (only part open that day) and lost track of time and had to run through the last part. In the underground prisoner cells, we sand Elder Stradling "Happy Birthday." He turned 20. He was surprised. After that, we had to catch a tram to go to Family Home Evening. We, 9 missionaries including 3 sisters ran from the castle and down the street behind the tram to catch it. It was hilarious. It is too bad that my camera was not readily available. I would have totally gotten a picture. It was fun though. After that, we had Family Home Evening and it went well, then we had a lesson with our investigator Anna, who I talked about last week. We introduced the Book of Mormon. She is so sincere and will need a little more care than past investigators, but she has much potential. I am happy we have such prepared and amazing people to teach. I have been waiting, sometimes impatiently, to get some miracle people like these people. After our lesson, we went home which brings me till now.

14.8.12

We had a great day today. We started our day off with the normal studies and then went on our way to our district meeting. At the district meeting we studied about commitments and how important they are when teaching. It went well. At the meeting we also got a cake for Elder Stradling and sang again. Then we went out for a little bit on the main square before our lessons and went contacting. We talked to a couple people with no apparent results. Then a homeless guy that is plays accordion on the square came up to us and asked us for some food. I told him we didn't have any. Then he asked for 1 crown (5 cents) we said we are not in the position to give money. So then, he asks for 50 crowns. I said we are volunteer missionaries and we can't. Then he got all mad and was waving his hand at me in the shape of a cross while calling me by the name Satan. So we walked away. About 100 yards down the street I looked back and he was talking to someone else he stopped and was pointing at us. Who knows what he was saying, but you could probably make a guess. After that, we went contacting some more and found and awesome Ukrainian guy that wants a Book of Mormon then went to the church building again for our lessons and English class. English class went well. We all showed each other pictures of our families and talked about them. Oh, family; Our English class likes you all! Then came the spiritual thought. This professor that always comes decided to go off about how the Book of Mormon is false. It took us 3 tries telling him, that we needed to end because we had a meeting to get to. After that, we had a nice lesson with Ivo about the gospel of Christ. He is progressing nicely. Our member that taught with us may have been a bit rough on him, but we will see how it goes. It was an odd day, but I have faith that this week will be just as great as last week.

15.8.12

Today was another odd day. We woke up and did studies like usual and went to a park near by. It was the same park we met that girl Ludmila that was a miracle then told us she was not interested. So we went there by tracting up one side of the street, going through the park, then tracting the other side of the street. We went in the park after some tracting and tried hard to go by the spirit. We went certain directions as we felt the spirit tell us. A couple times the primary song "Choose the Right" came into by head and I sang it out loud. Other times I felt like I was told to make a decision, like God trusted our judgment. We did that and found an old couple that were atheists. They weren't interested, but we gave them a taste of what our message is. I showed a picture of my family to them and they liked it. We continued on and went out of the park and then went to the main square. We saw the guy, on one of the streets, that crossed me yesterday and he did it again. Every time he sees me, he stops playing his accordion and crosses me. It is displeasing, but if that is what floats his boat, then... Ok. We then went to the church building after trying to talk to people on the square so we could be there for our later lessons. We first decided to do some building tours. We walk around in the nearby neighborhoods and try to get people to show our building. After a couple minutes, we came back with a nice lady. We showed her the building and invited her to church and she said she would come sometime. She thought it was a place only for members. After that, we had no more time and then we got dinner and went to a lesson with a less active member. We did the lesson and went home. And that was today. Oh, I also woke up today with a sore throat.

 

16.8.12

Sore throat – not better. I even went to bed earlier. It was a long day. However... it was great. The week has improved! Today, we did a lot of contacting in the hot dry weather. I almost lost my voice. We did what is called "Caussé Contacts". This is when you go up to a person and teach very concise. You go up to a person, introduce yourself, and say "Have you every heard of the Book of Mormon?" Then after they answer no, say "This book has helped me..., and I know it can... for you." Then you ask if they would like to meet. They work wonders! Future missionaries; REMEMBER "Caussé Contacts"! Oh, it is called that because Elder Caussé, the new first counselor in the presiding bishopric, came to do a mission tour before Elder Christofferson came last March, and Elder Caussé taught us this way. It works very well. After contacting a bit more, we had a lesson, I almost could not speak. I just had to take some time and talk slowly and gently. It was quite funny at times. The lesson was with Ivo. We taught about obedience and the ten commandments. We taught with Sister Martin (A senior missionary here.) Then left for dinner. Our investigator Ivo asked where we were going and we told him and pretty much invited himself. We went to get crapes at a restaurant nearby. He is really cool, so I don't mind that he invited himself. He is 25 years old and works at AT&T under his boss, who is a member. :) After that, we had to get home, so we went home and planned for the next day. Tomorrow should be a good day. Today I learned how when we teach something in the gospel, it must be taught simple. We don't need to over describe things to make it sound better. Today with our "Caussé Contacts", we taught quick and simple and saw results. Teaching simply is the way to go.

17.8.12

A good way to start off the day is a nice singing display. We, as a district went to lunch together and then went to go sing on the square. Our success wasn't the best, but we had fun and felt like missionaries, which makes it all worth it. At the end of the singing display, we saw a miracle. I, being one who loves to search for German tourists so I can speak with them, saw a couple who looked lost, so I went to go help them. They were actually from Israel. We talked to them for a bit and as we did, we bought enough time for someone who was prepared by the Lord to spot us and then stand off to the side till we were finished with the other people. This week and last week people have been lining up to speak with us. The key to this is diligence. Anyway, this guy... came up to us and said "Hey! Where can I get one of your Mormon Bibles?" We just about jumped for joy. All these wonderful experiences this past week are just outstanding. We told him we can get him one. He was Dutch by the way. We told him we can get it by next Wednesday. He is happy to get one. He has our contact information (he only had an out of the country number) and he will be in touch soon! Great thing is, I got to speak German with him because he is from Holland and the language there is very similar to German. That experience was an awesome coincidence that as I tried to help who I thought was German, someone who speaks German found us! The craziest thing is that if we hadn't talked to the Israelite people, he would have not found us.

So we continued on that day to have a lesson with Ivo and then with another investigator that in now a new investigator for us. It was our first lesson. His name in Miroslav. He is a shorter man, but his enthusiasm makes up for it. He is super energetic and could totally be a next branch president! We gave him a tour of our building and invited him to church then introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He said he will read it and said he will be at church. Something funny though, he speaks Czech and German. No English. Whenever I don't understand Czech, he explains in German. I don't know German as well as Czech though, so it doesn't really help. :) I just smile. He is a great investigator though. He just needs to find a testimony of these things, like everyone. When we finished our lessons, we went home.

18.8.12

Oh boy! Today was a LOT of walking!!! We decided, because we had no lessons, to walk to the church building (On the other side of Brno, the 2^nd biggest city in the Czech Republic). It took us all day, but we contacted along the way as according to plan. In the evening we had our district Czech study. But, to tell you about the contacting: We met some great people. We will have two new investigators this week. They are from Afghanistan. They moved here 4 years ago and thought we were Czech by how we spoke. :) They are from the capital of Afghanistan and moved here for safety. They are of the Muslim faith, but interested in the Book of Mormon. This time, again we did "Caussé Contacts". Along the way, we had a couple small conversations with people, but they had no interest. One one a girl from New York. Her parents are Czech. She speaks little Czech though. We talked to her and I found some German people on the square again, but that was all. So we got to the building, and did district language study, then went home.

19.8.12

Today was Sunday. Sad thing is we had no investigators at church. It was a good service though. After church, we went to the Martins for lunch and then did our studies there because we had a lesson soon after. We would not have had time to make it to the church building or our house for studies and make it back in time. We finished studies and went to our lesson. He forgot, so we rescheduled. So, we went home and had dinner then did weekly call-ins to the district leader. Now it is time for bed and it is P-Day tomorrow!

One thing sticks out this week. It was meeting the people from Afghanistan. From walking for hours to the church building, we found two of God's children, who are searching. I know that this mission is a sacrifice and takes faith, but the reward is great. We spent hours in the hot sun contacting and being rejected, and found 2 people. Keep in mind this scripture as quoted in Doctrine and Covenants 18:10,15-16

"10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

15 And if it so be that you should that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

I know this work is true and blesses many people. Thank you all who are have taken part in my mission whether by reading about it, helped me get here, or helped my testimony grow in the past, and to all who support m in any way. I pray for all of you to be blessed. Now for this week's challenge; talk to some one and bring one soul unto the Father. You will have great joy. Replace fear with faith and you can find someone searching for the truth.

Take care, Elder Bahr

Miracle Week!

Great week, just read on.  You will see.  :)

7.8.12

Today we had a couple lessons and our district meeting. We had a lesson with Ivo, who is just SO cool. He is enjoying the gospel and progressing well. He so far has no concerns, which concerns me.... He'll be fine. We also taught Ivan. Ivan just needs some time. In our district meeting we learned about "Teaching people, not lessons." It was a great lesson and we were able to learn a lot and we'll apply it to our missionary work. We will see how it turns out by the end of the week.

8.8.12

So today we went all over to find some members who are less active. We went everywhere in our area and found no one. Either people moved or their address was wrong or something. Then we went to the main town square and tried to find some people to teach. One guy we walked up to and he was American. Sad thing was, he was just rude to us. One of his many offensive comments was "Sorry I even looked at you." He was not even nice when we first said hi. He knew who we were and just threw darts at us. SO.... we continued on. We got to a place near the train station and we were stopped by a girl selling insurance. We didn't understand all she was saying, but we did talk to her about our message and got her contact information out of it. As we were in this contact, a girl about 23 years came up to us and started to hand us all a new gold watch. She sounded like she was in a panic. She then said "Hey, you got any money? I need to catch a bus, hurry!" As all this happened, her boyfriend stood off about 30 meters and looked around all suspiciously. After that, we just continued to the church building for some calls.

9.8.12

Crazy story and proof that miracles really do happen. My district leader and I were on an exchange and on our way to the church building. We did some contacting on the tram with little success. As we stepped off the tram at our stop, and walked away, a girl about 26 years old jumped off the tram and said "Wait!! You are Mormons right?" She began to explain that she had lived in Salt Lake City, UT and went to a lot of Mormon activities while there. She thanked us for all we do and told us that she just loves the Mormon community. This girls name is Anna. She is from Romania. We told her our church building was close by and we gave her a tour of it. She said she wants to go to church too! The cool thing is how perfect God's plan is. Our investigator who we would have had a lesson with a couple minutes after meeting Anna, came late and came just as we were finishing our tour. So, that is Anna. I like to call her; the miracle that jumped off the tram at us. Later, we had a singing display. I had probably my best contact ever. I truly felt the spirit working through me and the lady felt it. I testified in appropriate spots, I asked her questions, related it to her, etc. She said that it all made sense. Throughout the contact, she agreed to everything. By the end she said that she doesn't feel like she needs the Book of Mormon in her life, but she did say this "I am convinced." She said that when she needs it in life, she will call us. It may sound like she was just trying to get rid of m his mission call! He is serving in Leeds, England. As for us, we had our interviews, which I always look forward to. It is nice to take some time and talk about how we are doing and to get advice from President Irwin.

10.8.12

Today we went home teaching with a member, but that was later in the day. Earlier in the day we had a "Power Finding Exchange" with the zone leaders. We and the zone leaders went around the main square and did some finding. After some time, we switched companions. So Elder Strobl and I both got to work with both the zone leaders. They are both so good at talking to people. They can make anyone feel like their friend. I thought I was good at that, but they are much better. And, they can speak Czech better, so it is easier. This week, I have noticed that hard work pays off, especially when you try harder and in more detail. We already have had 4 member lessons and 3 other. That is a lot for the Czech/Slovak mission. On our way home from working hard this day, I got into one of my "Contemplation Tangents" where I all of a sudden think of something and it just CLICKS! Today it was about how God DOES exist! - We are too intricate to just be a coincidence. We have an intricate body, we have thoughts, feelings, passions, etc. In the moment, it just made SO MUCH SENSE. Maybe it doesn't now, but it was just a great moment at the time. If you were in my mind at that moment, it would make so much sense to you. If you were in my mind at that moment, it would make just as much sense to you. :)

11.8.12

Today we met a British/Czech couple on the tram. It seems like there are a lot of those, but we talked to them for a bit in English and the wife (Czech) said "Your English is really good! Where are you from, are you from the Czech Republic or...?" We had thrown a few Czech phrases in there too and so she knew we spoke Czech, so she thought maybe we were. We told her that we were Americans and she could not stop laughing at how surprised she was! That is one of the best compliments to get here, is when a Czech asks if we are Czech. :) We also had sports day. It went well. We had a good amount of people there and the weather was good. Anna was there our investigator that found us a couple days ago. After sports day, we had weekly planning, at which, we planned some GREAT lessons that we are very excited for. We have learned how to really plan for our investigators. I just love the people we teach. They are so sincere and ready! Our investigators are progressing well, especially Ivo. He really has the desire to find what he is searching for. It is right in front of him and he is starting to see it. It is just so exciting to have awesome people to teach. To wrap up our day today, we had Polar bear (Our language study as a district.) It was fun. We had a fun game to memorize a scripture. We chose 2 Nephi 25:26. It is one of my favorite scriptures. Then we had to hurry home after setting up chairs for church tomorrow. We thought we would be late because we missed the latest tram that we can take to get home on time. Now, we have been trying to be exactly obedient and being home late would bring us down on our personal scale to be exactly obedient. We saw a bus down the street and booked it! We caught it before it left and rode home. On the way we thought how we may not make it still. We got closer and closer and made it. We ran inside with 2 seconds to spare before we started our nightly planning in prayer, then we started right at 9:00pm. We are studs. :)

12.8.12

We had church today then lunch at the Martins, like every Sunday. We had a good turn out at church. There were 80 people and a good majority were investigators. After that, we had a lesson with a Nazarene. He is a black man from Florida. He had met with missionaries in the past and missionaries called him "Priest", as he said. He had a crazy story. The lesson was not as good as we hoped it to be. He pretty much came just to argue and look for things we said that were wrong. It was, sorry to say, a waste of time. It doesn't matter anyway, because we had an amazing week.

It is interesting how this week has played out to be. I, in the past, have always heard of other missionaries' miracle stories and have thought "Dang, when am I going to get some experiences like that?" It just takes time and hard work. There are small miracles too. Often, we just don't notice things till they are right under our noses like these experiences I had were. When we do everything we can and work hard, God puts things in our path. We, however, can't do all we can, then sit back. We need to search for these miracles too. Expect miracles even! I know that having this hope leads to faith, which leads to works, and then eventually MIRACLES! We just need to have 100% effort, 100% of the time. I know that as we do this and replace fear with faith, by working how we should or doing what we should, we receive blessings and great opportunities for testimony builders.

Readers; As you go through this next week, take righteous opportunities. They are in front of you everywhere. Even the small and simple ones. When you do, continue in them, you will see what comes. Have faith and stand tall. I know Christ live and God lives. They help us with things that we see, and they help us with things we don't see.

I wish everyone a great week.

~Elder Bahr

Nice, Good Week.

 What is new everyone? I hope all is well. I have had an interesting week. It may not seem interesting in the same way to you, since you didn't exactly experience it, but for me it gave me some great insights and helped me realized some important things. I know that as we live according to the gospel and apply it to our own lives, we will learn much and see the importance of this church. So here is my week. :)

30.7.12

P-Day started out great... the turn out will be seen in due time. We did our personal studies and planned a great lesson with the girl I mentioned in previous entries that was met in the Bilá Hora Park. It was going to be a great lesson. I was excited to have it. That morning, we also sent a message to get confirm where we would meet. We went on later in our day and went shopping for our food for the week, did our emailing home, and then did some nice letter writing. It was a nice relaxed P-Day. A couple hours before our nice lesson with that girl we called her because she didn't reply to the message we sent earlier. She answered the phone and the conversation went as follows (translated):

Me: Hey, are you still able to meet? :)

She: I actually am not home right now.

Me: Okay, when can we meet then?

She: Ummm... Never.

Silence (I was speechless)

Me: So, you are not interested?

She: Yes.

Silence

She: Goodbye.

Me: …. bye.

She seemed like she was so ready a couple days ago. This experience broke my heart because I know what kind of happiness this girl was missing out on. I pray that she will run into missionaries later on in life and realized the importance for the gospel. After that, my whole night was ruined. I don't know what caused this experience to be so affecting on me, but it gives me a small perspective of how much our Father in Heaven loves us.

Other than that, today was a quick, normal day. We have a busy day tomorrow and 4 lessons on plan, all within a few hours. Util then. :)

31.7.12

Videli jsme velký zazrak dneska! After what happened yesterday, I woke up with reluctance and you could probably guess why. That experience from yesterday totally extinguished what I had burning inside me. It was, to me, one of those kind of experiences that make you question what went wrong and why I am out here. Because of this, last night I prayed to see a miracle. I expressed to my Heavenly Father that I wanted to see something that would bring my testimony back up to where it was. Today, my testimony shot up more than it was at yesterday. We had a lesson with a young kid named Ivo. He had been contacted on the Naměstí by Starší Štrobl a couple weeks ago. He told us today that he had actually been recently looking some stuff up about Mormons and then Starší Štrobl and him met a couple days later. Anyway, so we started out lesson and had Brother Čadeni (the former branch president) teach with us. We talked about how through the Book of Mormon, things that are done wrong in the past are made right. Ivo, Brother Čhadeni, and us missionaries felt the spirit very strong. After a little discussion about the Book of Mormon we had Brother Čadeni give his testimony on it. His testimony was great. We then watched a video that we got at our last zone conference. The DVD is of a few members here in the Czech Republic giving their testimony then part of a conference talk explaining the importance of the Book of Mormon. We started the video and it went most of the way through when I started to worry if it was too long. (It was only 15 min.) Then it ended and we talked about it. We asked our investigator a couple questions and testified and then he replied, saying "After watching the DVD, I have to read the book!" Then he said "If the Book of Mormon is what you say it is, I will read it from cover to cover at once!"

After he committed himself to read the Book of Mormon, we talked about baptism. Now about 5 minutes before the lesson started, Elder Štrobl and I were deciding whether or not to give him a baptismal date. We talked about it and were thinking September 1^st, then we thought, maybe a bit longer may be good... We never made an exact decision but in the lesson we asked him; "When you find out that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" He said yes. Then we decided to go for a date so we asked him to prepare for the 1^st of September. In response he said "That is a long way away... but yeah, definitely." Wait!!! Take a pause. Did you hear that?!?!? He said it was a long time away and it is only a month!!! Can you say PREPARED?! People here are never that easy about it. They always say that even two months away is soon! But he said it is a long time!

This is just great work here. Ivo is so ready and willing to follow Christ! He wants to change his life around and his desire just motivates me to work harder. Ivo just recently texted us and said "I want to change. I have read the prolog and introduction already and even have my book at work! I will do everything to know the Book of Mormon is true and to come to know God."

Just his desire to learn and grow in faith proves to me that God does exist and is our Father in Heaven, who love us. I know that the decision to serve a mission was THE RIGHT CHOICE. I love the gospel and I love the Savior, Jesus Christ. I look forward to all the other miracles I will see on my mission.

2.8.12

Wow, today was kind of a rough day. We started out having a little bit of contacting people on the way to a lesson we had, and it went alright... like normal people nicely declined and I am fine with nice declining. We had our lesson that turned out to be like the lessons usually are. We tried to teach the restoration for the third time. Like last time though, our investigator always turned the conversion around to how much she dislikes her mother. Dislike, to put it nicely. We left her a chapter to read about the Christ-like attribute of charity. After this lesson, we did some more finding. We walked around, trying to go where we felt right in the area we planned the night before to contact. People got more ferocious than earlier in the day. It really frustrates me. So many people don't know what they are saying "No." so bluntly and easily to. Now after we did this and endured it for some time, we had a nice dinner at the Čadeni's. We had chicken steaks and potato wedges. It was very good. We then shared a spiritual thought at the end. We talked about Joseph Smith and the restoration through him. The spiritual thought went well and then we finished off our evening with more contacting.

3.8.12

Today was another rough day. Oh man. First, our lesson canceled on us and we tried to call them, but they just "Red-Buttoned" us. That simply means that they press the end-call button on their phone when we ring them. So, we walked to a park to go contacting in. We talked to people and peoples' replies to us just hurt me. For example we would say "Dobrý Den" (Hello) and they would get mad and show us how unhappy they could get. It makes me frustrated sometimes. I know now, how Nephi feels in 2 Nephi 33:3, when he says;

"But, I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry."

For me, I, Elder Bahr, have said what I have said and see it of being great worth and especially for my people here in the Czech Republic. For I pray for them often and my heart continues to ache for them, because of them; and I pray to my God and know that he will hear my prayer.

People here really don't know what they are saying no to. It makes me so frustrated too. I have all these feelings going through my body when people say no so quickly. I can see a little bit why I am in this mission though. This mission is very difficult. It is in fact the most difficult. People may disagree, but from words I heard from an apostle, this can be labeled as the most difficult. I have had some trials and tests of faith and patience. There are things I need to learn. I have already learned a couple things, but I have much learning to go.

4.8.12

We had a nice amount of service today. We went to the Všiansky, a family in the branch, and did some service for them. We helped put some hay for rabbits from one big bag into a bunch of little bags and we helped take stuff up into their attic. For a few minutes he showed us his shot-putt "field" and had our own Olympics, as he called it. He got first place, my companion got 2^nd place, and I got 3^rd. It was all good fun. After we did a couple hours of service, they fed us lunch. We think it was duck. A story about this duck can be shared later. After we did that we came home and did some planning for the week for our investigators. We have two people scheduled to be baptized on September 1^st! It is going to be great. We went contacting on the naměstí after that. A namestí is the Czech word for town square, which word I like better than the English way. Then we went to our district language study and went home. Today was an average day.

Well, that is all for this week.  I am glad to be serving.  I have been able to learn patience this last week and that is a great thing to learn.  It is a Christ-like attribute too.  I am happy for all the blessings that I have received and that my family has received.  I am greatful that this mission has changed me thus far and I only await for the rest ahead of me.  Everyone take care this week and don't forget to what?  ... Replace fear with faith.  Oh, I love that quote.  Until next week!

-Elder Bahr

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Nice, Good Week!

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Nice, Good Week.

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