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
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