I will have you know that I am wearing a coat right now. Yes, the Czech Republic is still cold. This might be the coldest birthday that I've had, probably ever if it doesn't heat up in these next few weeks. So the Czech people aren't too happy; they all want good weather because they are much more outside dwellers than us Americans. Seriously, last transfer we came to the conclusion that the Czech people are crosses between hobbits and elves because they love to be outside, they love their gardens, they love their beer, they basically live in hills sometimes, and they're way tall. So I guess they're basically hobbits, with one trait of the elves. That's ok, I'm still here and am much shorter than they are. One good thing about that, however, is that it makes it fairly easy to find people because they're always out on the náměstí, so we don't have to go and tract houses all day long.
Now that I think about it, I think that we have had about three weeks collectively over my entire mission here in the Czech Republic where we have had sunny nice weather. Seriously, the rest of it has been terrible overcast, snowing or raining. It's a little bit depressing, but we make out some how.
So, as for the title of this post, this week has been really up and down, starting with last Sunday (not yesterday, but the one before that). So, on that day, I got to have my family call and that was way cool, and to make that day even better, we went out and did some finding right before they called. In that one hour finding block, we found this super awesome, super solid woman named Šarka (Shark-ah) and that just kind of made our day, and then we got to top it even more with calls. Then on Monday we went to Šternberk and saw a Kostel (Cathedral) they have there, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed. They've also got a castle there which we're going to go back to see sometime, and that should be better. So this week has been really up and down. I've been really low and depressed a few times this week and other times, we were on fire just working working working. I don't really know what I can write about this week. We met with Šarka this week and that made her a new investigator. That was way cool, and kind of depressing that she's so solid, but she's the first one of the transfer. So, three weeks down and only one new investigator. That's kind of terrible, but I'm learning how to lead a companionship so that we can be effective and good missionaries all the time.
Also, once this week, our companionship kind of boiled over, and we didn't speak with each other for a while and then the next day (yesterday) we talked it all out and found stuff out about each other that we should have gotten out in the open right at the beginning of the transfer. So, now our companionship should be moving much more smoothly and we should be able to call upon all the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for us now that we're being completely open and helpful toward each other.
As for this week, I'm sorry that I don't really have any stories to share, but nothing really exciting or funny happened. I guess that I'll make up for it by giving you a few pictures. I made a little buddy in the branch here. His name is Honza and he's a little bit crazy, but he's really awesome too. I like him alot, and I think that he kind of looks up to me as a brother. That's way awesome. Also, his little sister basically things I'm family. They're a really cute family. Their father is really, really inactive, but the mother is super solid, so I can see him coming back to the gospel if she stays worthy and stalwart. I'll also add a picture of David, who we call a blazen (which means crazy man). Another fun word for you, Ricky, is bulbiček (bull-bee-check) which means idiot. Oh gosh, where to start with David. Perhaps I'll write about him some other time.
Anyway, I love you all very much and I love hearing from each of you. I can already see how the Lord has blessed every one of us, but be attentive to see how he blesses us in the small ways every day.
Starší Monk
PS - for all the people who love their beer, the third picture is of the hop fields in the Czech Republic. It's a self contained industry here - they grow it, brew it and drink it all in the same country. Seriously, these fields are everywhere, and the Czech people seem to think they have to drink it all themselves.
