Dear Family,
Well, this week has been quite strange. I've never really been looked upon as the person that was required to keep the companionship driven. It's not that we didn't work this week, and that's very far from the point. It's just that our numbers and stuff weren't hot because I haven't been pushing things as the elder companion always does, so things were kind of just coasting right now. Despite this, we have had some really cool things happen. I've started to break Elder Kreitzer out of his routine of contacting everyone the same way. I've started trying to get him to talk to people instead of reciting at people. That's been cool. Also my language ability has gone through the roof these past few weeks. It seems like if we're placed in a circumstance that we can't quite control, the Lord blesses us with the things that we need so that we can do what is expected of us.
One thing that happened this past week is that we gave a baptismal challenge to one of our investigators! And he accepted! Elder Kreitzer has been having a lot of vision for him. He's a 25 year old Indian man and they found him last transfer. When they did, he was a complete atheist. Elder Kreitzer has had lots of hope and excitement for him because he could see the entire change from atheist to believing that possibly God exists, to praying and reading, and now, to accepting a baptismal commitment. This was the first meeting I had with him, so I didn't really know what to think, but Elder Kreitzer told me that we'd teach him the third lesson because they had already taught him the first two. So we went out finding, and we were getting thrown around by people right and left. No one wanted to talk to us, and we even received one of my favorite insults from people. Most of the time we start our contacts by saying that we're volunteers from America, and then comes the excuse why they can't talk or where they're going or the insult. I've received this one before, but it's still fun to me. The guy said, "Go back to America." Love it. :)
Anyway, after some finding we went back to the building and sat there for a little while for a break and played some ping pong. I asked Elder Kreitzer to practice giving me a baptismal commitment because he gets caught up in words and talks in circles and has a hard time just getting to the point because he's afraid of coming off too bold or strong armed. So we started practicing the commitment, and it ended up with us brainstorming different ways to give it and practicing speaking simply and so forth for about an hour before the lesson with him. By the way his name is Lakes but it's pronounced La-kus. So up comes the time for our lesson and we walk him up to the building (we met him out front) and started to talk with him just so I could find out who he is. He told us that he didn't have a whole lot of time, really only 30 minutes, and that turned out perfect because it forced Elder Kreitzer to speak really simply and to the point because we were on limited time. Anyway, we got through the entire lesson (and for those of you who don't know what the third lesson is, it's the gospel of Jesus Christ - faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end). After the lesson, Elder Kreitzer knew that it was time for the commitment and he tried to go after it and ended up beating around the bush for about 20 seconds, but he eventually just came out and said it. It was actually very good the way that he did it, and Lakes accepted it without a heartbeat. I could see that Elder Kreitzer just wanted to scream right then because he was so happy for him. That was a pretty cool moment. The Spirit in that room at that moment was almost palpable.
Afterward, Elder Kreitzer told me that the lesson we just had was probably the most perfect lesson he's had so far on his mission. Of course we were speaking in English because Lakes doesn't really know Czech. In fact, he knows less than we do.
Also, another little fun experience was when we were walking through the park one day, we were trying to find someone to talk to, but the park was basically deserted. Elder Kreitzer and I felt that we needed to be there to find someone, but he turned to me and said, well, maybe we aren't supposed to be here, but I reassured him that there would be someone at the end of the park. So we kept walking, and we saw two guys up the path from us. One of them was sitting down and the other was doing this spinning stick stuff. The stick was probably about four feet long and the size of a quarter in diameter. It was probably made to light the ends on fire because it had cloth wadds on the ends. So, imagine the flaming stick twirlers. Yeah, this guy was doing that kind of stuff, and he was really good. So we started approaching them and I dared Elder Kreitzer to contact him, and he didn't want to, so I went up and asked him if he could teach me to do that. He was kind of taken off guard, but he was really friendly about it and we kind of talked for a little bit. He seemed kind of shy about wanting to teach me. So I asked him if I could just watch for a little bit and he told me that they were having a show down in a different part of the park and we could come and watch there if we'd like, but I had to tell him that we didn't have a whole lot of time. So he just continued practicing and showing us what he could do, and now I really want to learn how to do it. It's really awesome. While he was "performing" for us, we tried speaking to his friend on the bench and he told us that he does it too, but a little differently. After he was done, we spoke to him a little about why we were there and what we were trying to do as missionaries. We found out that he was a believer and that he doesn't like organized religion because it makes God too impersonal. He said that God is very special and we need to build a relationship with Him from our heart. We assured him that we believed the same thing, that we need to have that personal relationship with Him. He asked us for our number, but Elder Kreitzer was taught to give out pass along cards, so he had one out and ready, and we almost lost the opportunity to get his number. Elder Kreitzer gave him the card and went right into his skit where he gives it to them and explains it a little. I kind of saved it by saying, "You have a phone, right?" So we got his number and I told him that maybe we could meet a bit later and we could exchange knowledge - he could teach me to do the stick twirling and we could teach him about how he could come to know God better. That was way cool and I'm really excited about him because he seemed really awesome.
So, I'll forward a few pictures from Olomouc and of my new companion. He's kind of a dork, but that's ok; we get along. :)
Love you all very much, but I must be going.
Starší Monk
Well, this week has been quite strange. I've never really been looked upon as the person that was required to keep the companionship driven. It's not that we didn't work this week, and that's very far from the point. It's just that our numbers and stuff weren't hot because I haven't been pushing things as the elder companion always does, so things were kind of just coasting right now. Despite this, we have had some really cool things happen. I've started to break Elder Kreitzer out of his routine of contacting everyone the same way. I've started trying to get him to talk to people instead of reciting at people. That's been cool. Also my language ability has gone through the roof these past few weeks. It seems like if we're placed in a circumstance that we can't quite control, the Lord blesses us with the things that we need so that we can do what is expected of us.
One thing that happened this past week is that we gave a baptismal challenge to one of our investigators! And he accepted! Elder Kreitzer has been having a lot of vision for him. He's a 25 year old Indian man and they found him last transfer. When they did, he was a complete atheist. Elder Kreitzer has had lots of hope and excitement for him because he could see the entire change from atheist to believing that possibly God exists, to praying and reading, and now, to accepting a baptismal commitment. This was the first meeting I had with him, so I didn't really know what to think, but Elder Kreitzer told me that we'd teach him the third lesson because they had already taught him the first two. So we went out finding, and we were getting thrown around by people right and left. No one wanted to talk to us, and we even received one of my favorite insults from people. Most of the time we start our contacts by saying that we're volunteers from America, and then comes the excuse why they can't talk or where they're going or the insult. I've received this one before, but it's still fun to me. The guy said, "Go back to America." Love it. :)
Anyway, after some finding we went back to the building and sat there for a little while for a break and played some ping pong. I asked Elder Kreitzer to practice giving me a baptismal commitment because he gets caught up in words and talks in circles and has a hard time just getting to the point because he's afraid of coming off too bold or strong armed. So we started practicing the commitment, and it ended up with us brainstorming different ways to give it and practicing speaking simply and so forth for about an hour before the lesson with him. By the way his name is Lakes but it's pronounced La-kus. So up comes the time for our lesson and we walk him up to the building (we met him out front) and started to talk with him just so I could find out who he is. He told us that he didn't have a whole lot of time, really only 30 minutes, and that turned out perfect because it forced Elder Kreitzer to speak really simply and to the point because we were on limited time. Anyway, we got through the entire lesson (and for those of you who don't know what the third lesson is, it's the gospel of Jesus Christ - faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end). After the lesson, Elder Kreitzer knew that it was time for the commitment and he tried to go after it and ended up beating around the bush for about 20 seconds, but he eventually just came out and said it. It was actually very good the way that he did it, and Lakes accepted it without a heartbeat. I could see that Elder Kreitzer just wanted to scream right then because he was so happy for him. That was a pretty cool moment. The Spirit in that room at that moment was almost palpable.
Afterward, Elder Kreitzer told me that the lesson we just had was probably the most perfect lesson he's had so far on his mission. Of course we were speaking in English because Lakes doesn't really know Czech. In fact, he knows less than we do.
Also, another little fun experience was when we were walking through the park one day, we were trying to find someone to talk to, but the park was basically deserted. Elder Kreitzer and I felt that we needed to be there to find someone, but he turned to me and said, well, maybe we aren't supposed to be here, but I reassured him that there would be someone at the end of the park. So we kept walking, and we saw two guys up the path from us. One of them was sitting down and the other was doing this spinning stick stuff. The stick was probably about four feet long and the size of a quarter in diameter. It was probably made to light the ends on fire because it had cloth wadds on the ends. So, imagine the flaming stick twirlers. Yeah, this guy was doing that kind of stuff, and he was really good. So we started approaching them and I dared Elder Kreitzer to contact him, and he didn't want to, so I went up and asked him if he could teach me to do that. He was kind of taken off guard, but he was really friendly about it and we kind of talked for a little bit. He seemed kind of shy about wanting to teach me. So I asked him if I could just watch for a little bit and he told me that they were having a show down in a different part of the park and we could come and watch there if we'd like, but I had to tell him that we didn't have a whole lot of time. So he just continued practicing and showing us what he could do, and now I really want to learn how to do it. It's really awesome. While he was "performing" for us, we tried speaking to his friend on the bench and he told us that he does it too, but a little differently. After he was done, we spoke to him a little about why we were there and what we were trying to do as missionaries. We found out that he was a believer and that he doesn't like organized religion because it makes God too impersonal. He said that God is very special and we need to build a relationship with Him from our heart. We assured him that we believed the same thing, that we need to have that personal relationship with Him. He asked us for our number, but Elder Kreitzer was taught to give out pass along cards, so he had one out and ready, and we almost lost the opportunity to get his number. Elder Kreitzer gave him the card and went right into his skit where he gives it to them and explains it a little. I kind of saved it by saying, "You have a phone, right?" So we got his number and I told him that maybe we could meet a bit later and we could exchange knowledge - he could teach me to do the stick twirling and we could teach him about how he could come to know God better. That was way cool and I'm really excited about him because he seemed really awesome.
So, I'll forward a few pictures from Olomouc and of my new companion. He's kind of a dork, but that's ok; we get along. :)
Love you all very much, but I must be going.
Starší Monk