Slooow Week, But Enjoyable.

This week was super slow.  However, I learned a lot and enjoyed it.  My companion has settled in and coming to know Zlín more and more everyday.  My companion now, Elder Stradling is a VERY HARD worker.  He takes literally EVERY opportunity.  Here is a nice little story about him.  So in all my companionships, I try to serve my companion as much as I can.  One other thing I do is tell him that he is the best and if he says no, I argue the point why.  We had a lesson the other day with an investigator and the branch president, President Večeřa.  After the lesson as we left I told President Večeřa that he is lucky because he has the best missionary in the mission here (speaking of Elder Stradling) and President said "I could tell that when I was speaking on the phone with him yesterday."  Truly Elder Stradling speaks from his heart.  Every word.  Even funnier part of the story, in church yesterday, President announced the new missionary in Zlín and went on to say "I recently heard somewhere that we have the best missionary in the mission among us.  He really knows how to love people, from my own experience teaching with him.  And I am sure you will all feel his love."  Now the branch knows he is the best.  ;)  I am thankful for being able to serve with him.

 

Well, also this week we had a lesson with a new investigator who has some mental disabilities.  His name is Bědřich.  I am thankful for my own brother Adam who has disabilities and that I can understand these blessed people.  This investigator is a happy loving person.  He will be able to understand the gospel with time, so we will continue working with him.

 

We had Thanksgiving here.  We went to the home of Elder and Sister Scott, the senior couple.  They cooked a great meal and we enjoyed our time. Afterward, we had district meeting.

 

Last story for this week.  I heard that Ivo, the newest member in Brno (I taught and baptised him)  went to the temple and just this last Sunday he passed the sacrament!!!!  I am proud of him.  I feel like his Father, he is like my child.  He is growing up so fast!

 

I am thankful for the things I have experienced on my mission that make me happy, make other people happier, help me turn into a true desciple of Christ, and brings me closer to Christ and my Father in Heaven.  It is strange to think it is already half over, but exciting to know I still have half of this mission in front of me.  For everyone reading this - If you can, prepare to and serve a mission.  For those who can not, share the gospel with those you can.  Who can say no to some of the greatest blessings on earth?

 

Replacing fear with faith and have a good week.

 

Elder Bahr

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Transfer Week

I do not have much time today for a letter, but things are going well.  We had transfers and I am still serving in Zlín.  I will be with Elder Stradling.  He is from Arizona.  We served around eachother in Brno.

Alena, one of our investigators is doing well.  We recently taught the plan of salvation.

Ludmila has been difficult to meet with.

We are having trouble finding new investigators, but we are having some great moments with people we have been meeting everywhere.  One lady on the street asked us to pray for her grandson who is getting into bad things.  I have been praying to find him someday and teach him.  This gospel is a happy thing and can lift someone out of the darkest pits.  I am thankful I have grown up in the gospel and have wonderful parents who raised me in it and taught me true things that make me truly happy.  There is nothing to fear in this church and this gospel.  So replace fear with faith  and embrace the gospel.  Sorry it is not a very detailed letter.  More next week.  I love you all.

 

Elder Bahr

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

One Year Out.

A year on my mission has come and gone.  It is crazy how time goes by so fast.  It feels like the other day I was in the MTC or even going around to JCPenny and Macy's for clothes and supplies.  The winter in coming in, so these clothes I bought are coming in handy.  It snowed last week and hasn't since, but has been cold and rained a couple times.

 

Not much has happened this week.  Our investigators have not been able to meet for a few reasons, but we should be meeting again here pretty soon.  Anyway though, here is a quick rundown of what happened this week:

 

Monday:  Because it is P-Day, we got our weekly groceries, emailed, and then went to the Zlín Zoo with the Sisters from Uherské Hradiště!  It is voted the best in the Czech Republic.  There were a lot of animals and if you know me, I was mimicking all the animals' sounds.  I tried to share the gospel with the sea lions, but one just came out and yelled at me.  I tried with the elephants and one stuck it's trunk out asking for a Book of Mormon, I didn't have one though.  The sloths ignored me.  The hyenas laughed at me.  But the monkeys were fascinated by the message.  It was a nice little trip.  We came back and had a little bit of time left before we were supposed to work, so we went to the elevators at the "21 Building".  The elevators have no doors and don't stop, but this time they did.  So we got stuck in them for 10 minutes. Then we went back down and at 6pm started working again.  We had a lesson with Ludmila.  She is one of our investigators who knows nothing about the Bible, religion, or anything.  She enjoys our lessons.  We have another lesson with her today.

 

Tuesday:  We taught a less active member after hepling her clean the building.  We watched Elder Uchtdorf's 'Forget-Me-Not' talk.  Then we went to meet with some other less active members, but they weren't there when we arrived, so we came back and had English class.  We have now 3 new students!  Any other time, we went outside to talk with people.

 

Wednesday:  We had language study as a district then did a finding exchange on the square in Uherské Hradiště.  We have another one this week.  We came back and had a lesson with a new member, Eva.  She is a great new member and is thinking about serving a mission!  Then we finished up the day with some tracting in and area of Zlín we call Zalešna.

 

Thursday:  We had a training in Olomouc.  We woke up at 5am and left.  The training was good.  We learned some more acute points of the work that day.  I then had an exchange with the zone leaders.  I served in Olomouc for a day with Elder Gleue.  We had a lesson that night and had dinner with the other missionaries in Olomouc.

 

Friday:  We continued the exchange with a few lessons.  Then went to visit a member who had a birthday.  His wife made us lunch and we shared a spiritual thought with him and left.  Then we drove back to just outside of Zlín.  Right when we got back my companion, Elder Odell, and I taught the branch president and his family.  Then we travelled home to Zlín.

 

Saturday:  We had a good amount of lessons on plan, but most fell through.  We went to find less actives instead.  We found one, then had to go home for weekly planning.

 

Sunday:  We had a conference with Slovakia branches and half of the Czech branches.  The conference was a great time to learn more, grow spiritually, support and sustain leaders, and see some of the members we used to serve.  I saw some members from Brno and also from Ostrava.  It has been a while since then.  I also got to see Ivo.  He is doing well and continues to grow in the gospel.  The speakers at the conference were our mission president, and the member of the 70 in our area.  He and his wife spoke.  They are from Germany, so I got to practice my German.  My Czech is much better though, so for now, I will stick to Czech.  After the conference, we had NO time to chat with people, so we ran out there to catch our train to get to our lesson.  We showed up and our investigators were not there.  So we went home to do our studies for the day.

 

Nice week, not too many lessons.  I am thankful for all the things I do as a missionary like teaching, strengthening members, etc.  I know this is the Lords work and have a testimony that this gospel is true.  Have a great week everyone and replace fear with faith.

 

Elder Bahr

Happy Work This Is

I am greatful for the gospel.  I am thankful for the change it can make in people and for the smiles it brings to people's faces.  We have some great investigators that we are able to teach.  They are great people.

 

One is this lady names Alena.  She is 59 and takes care of her mother who stays in bed all day.  Our first lesson, if you remember from previous letters, she brought out a table, chairs, and tea for us.  The second lesson, some chairs and a table with a table cloth was already our before we got there with tea, and she made some nice warm apple strudle.  This last lesson we had on Friday, she invited us in because it was raining, made a bunt cake ("Buchta" in Czech), made us some tea, and gave us some fresh raspberry jam to take home.  She is such a sweet lady and when we teach her, she feels the spirit and enjoys every minute of it.

Also that day, we had a lesson with Dana and Sister Večeřová taught with us.  Her testimony is great for Dana.  We enjoy teaching with her.  Dana is learning slowly, but gladly meets with us.

That day we had a couple other lessons, but another point I would like to touch up on is how much success we had as we did what the Lord wants.  We planned to tract in this area Zalešna where we had found our other investigators and it was raining.  We got the courage and marched out in the cold rain and went to work.  Among all those who were rude, slammed their doors, ignored us, etc.; we found 6 other people, who told us to come back.  In all this experiences, we felt the spirit of the Lord work through us.  It is my testimony that as we do that which the Lord expects of us, we are blessed and edified.  We will bless those around us as we find true happiness.  After our great contacting, we had a lesson all the way on the other side of Zlín.  We would have been late, but we caught a bus, got of, caught another bus who didn't have any more tickets left so he just told us to get on (we payed him anyway), and made it to our appointment.  Everything worked out great.  The Lord  provides a way for us to do all he asks.  Remember that.  Like me I replace the fear of rain with faith to find and was blessed.  As we raplace fear with faith, we will be prepare a way.

 

That is really all I have today to tell.  This week has just been good.  Yes, it went by too fast like always... but it was good.  Here in a few days I will have been a missionary for one year!  Time sure does fly.  Take care everyone and do a good deed in the community.

 

-Elder Bahr

It is Definitely Autumn!

I  say it is autumn because it is just beautiful here in the Czech Republic in the fall.  All of God's beautiful creations are everywhere, in the air, the trees, on the mountains, etc.  There are so many colors of leaves and with the touch of snow on yellow maple leaves in the trees is, well, just great.  Yes, it has started to snow here.  We have been hovering in the 32-38 degree Fahrenheit range this week.  A couple days we woke up with snow and as I write, it is still snowing.  Time to break out the winter sweaters, coats, gloves, and hats!

 

This was a nice week, not as filled with new investigators or lessons, but a great week of growth and missionary work, and fun.  I would like to share just a few things today.

 

So, Monday (last), we planned on going to the zoo which is the best in the Czech Republic.  Our district got all together and started to head over there when we realized we didn't have enough time to go.  So instead, we went to take out last opportunity to find mushrooms in the nearby forests before freezing temperatures destroyed all the mushrooms.  We found a few, but not any that were edible.  I only know of two kinds:  In Czech they are a Babka and Pichavka.  They smell really good, but we didn't find any.  It was too late into autumn.

 

During the rest of the week, we had a few lessons.  One lesson we had a lesson with Dana.  She is doing great.  We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ - the steps we take to follow Christ and come closer to God. (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end).  The lesson went very well.  Our member Sister Večeřová gave strong testimony about the gospel blessing her life.

 

This may be a small branch, but there are some strong testimonies!

 

We also had zone conference.  Out of our MTC group, all the Slokav missionaries were there, and I was.  All the other Czechs in my group were in different zones, therefore different conferences.  None the less, it was a great "reunion" and the training was great.  All trainings are great.  They are good times to refocus and polish our missionary skills!

 

Other good news:

Ivo, the new convert in Brno that I taught with Elder Strobl, got the priesthood!  He is progressing like a champ in the gospel.  I am proud of him and am excited for the waiting blessings to unfold to him.  A member named Gad Vojkuvka, who kept the church alive during communism, gave him the priesthood.  His blessing, as I was told was beautiful.

Also, I found out last night that in a small city called Lišeň, just outside of Brno, lives a man that we gave a contact card a few months ago.  Yesterday, this man came to church in Brno and the missionaries are now teaching him.  It is a testimony to me that NO EFFORT is wasted!  Even giving someone a missionaries' contact card can open doors to people lost in this world to learning and coming to know God.

 

In church I got to share my talents and play the organ for sacrament meeting again.  Us missionaries also had talks in church.  We spoke about true conversion and how we can become more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If I had more time to talk about it, I would, but I don't.

 

I am very grateful that I can be here and serve God.  It is not work, it is a blessing that I gladly take part in.  It is a blessing for me and for others.  I know that this gospel is true and provides eternal lasting happiness.  I know that as we share the gospel and replace that fear we may have with faith, we grow in testimony and learn how to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.  I challenge all who read this: Members of this church - get a missionary contact card from the missionaries next time you see them, and carry it with you this week until you find someone to give it to.  Find an opportunity in an unlikely place like at work, at school, at the store, or on a morning walk and give the card to someone.  NO EFFORT is wasted.  Non-Members - Go to Mormon.org to find contact information.  Either way, I promise thatyou will have joy that you have never experienced before as you share with people or learn for yourself of this message.

 

Everyone have a good week,

I love you all,

Elder Bahr

Další Dobrý Týden!

The caption means "Another Good Week"  I didn't want it to be the regular caption.  But as it says there, we had a great week.  We visited many recent converts and less active members to help strengthen their testimonies.  :)  We also got some more new investigators!  This deal with going door to door really has been paying off.  We planned at the beginning of the transfer to tract this area till it was finished, if we had time to go finding.  God has been preparing some great people for us.  We have been blessed.  The new investigators we have are a lady named Ludmila and another one named Kouřilová (last name).  They are great.  Kouřilová is the one we met while finding a less active and we scheduled then with her to meet a yesterday.  The lesson went well.  Ludmila was met tracting andwe had a lesson with her on her door step and we are excited to have another lesson with her today!  We will be giving her a Book of Mormon and teaching about the restoration through Joseph Smith.

 

Though I have only a little bit to write, it was a great week in my book being able to teach some new people and help them come unto Christ.  Not too much else happened this week.  We have continued with our other investigators like Dana, and she is doing well.  And we have been just enjoying this work.  Oh, I also got to play the organ for church again this week.  I am thankful I have been blessed with talents and can use them and share them with people.

 

Take care this week everyone and don't forget the famous phrase: Replace Fear with Faith!

 

-Elder Bahr

Amazing Week!

It may not seem like too amazing of a week, after you read this, but it was.  It would make more sense to missionaries and even more sense to missionaries of the Czech/Slovak Mission.  None the less, I hope you will feel the same excitement that I have.

So, to just dive into it, this week we found some great new people and had conference!  Conference was this week here, to get it translated and sent to us.  We missionaries still watch it in English though.  That is what I would prefer anyway to get the most of conference as I can.  I loved the talks.  They were great for me because I could ponder about my own life.  They were inspired for sure.
Now to the new people we found.  This week, we found a few new people to teach.  They are all great and willing to learn.  First is a woman named Alena.  We were tracting the other day and planned an area called Zalešná (Zah-lesh-na) to tract.  On the way there we saw a small, seemingly insignificant street.  My companion mentioned it and I said "It's a sign!!!!", so we decided to try there.  We went down it and got to a house, rang the doorbell, and this lady answered.  We spoke for a moment then she asked if she could get us some tea.  We accepted politely.  She came out a few minutes later with a table, some chairs, tea, and cookies.  We sat on her front porch while we enjoyed her hospitality and taught her.  We have another lesson this week and she told us she would love to read the Book of Mormon!  She has a daughter that she said she would like us to meet too.  She studies in Olomouc, so the missionaries there, may get a nice person to teach.  It was a great evening to find her.
The next one is a man that we found and asked to sit with him on his porch and talk with him.  So we did and taught him right there.  A couple days later, we came back and gave him a Book of Mormon and him and his wife said they would love to read it.
The last one was when we went to find a less active member.  We met a lady out side before talking with the member.  We spoke with her for some time and asked to meet with her and she accepted happily.  In our conversation, she said she was and evangelist, but still didn't know which church was true.  We talked with her a bit more, set up our meeting, and went to find the member.  The member wasn't home, but his mother was, who isn't a member.  We talked with her and got a lesson with her!

We have been blessed this week, and I know it was due to obedience to commandments, mission commandments in specific.  I know as we replace fear with faith and do what we know we should, we will find miracles in life and be blessed.  Do what you should and you will be blessed.

Until next week,
Elder Bahr