Dear Family,
This week, even though I got here on Wednesday, has been amazing. On Wednesday night, we went out contacting people on the town square, and we found a guy named Vladmir. He's a man from Ukraine and he's just so humble. He can only speak Ukrainian and I can only speak Czech, so there is a little bit of a language barrier, but between the two of us we understand enough that we can communicate well. We found out that he's here working away from his family and that he's from a little more humble circumstances - we don't think that he's living very comfortably. We got his number and told him that we'd like to meet with him later and give him a Book of Mormon in Ukrainian. He said that it didn't matter because he can read and understand just about anything Slavik, but we thought it would be best to give him a Ukrainian Book of Mormon. We called him later and set up a meeting with him on the town square where we met after he finished work on Friday. When he came, we asked him if we could go to our building which was a couple stops down the tram, or we could go into a cafe. He denied both of them and just said that we could sit down on a bench on the town square. I could see that he was going to get cold quickly because he didn't have a very good coat on, so we decided to give him a quick lesson. We gave him the Book of Mormon and told him about the background and a little about Joseph Smith and that we would talk more about him. At the end we spoke a little about prayer and asked him if he could try that and come to church the next day. Arranging for him to come to church was a little difficult because of the language barrier, but he said that he would come. He didn't end up coming to church, but we have another meeting set up with him today at the same place and at about the same time. This man is so prepared and so humble. I know that we're going to be hearing more about Vladmir.
When I came into the area, Elder Rhodes told me about each of their investigators and potentials. He told me about one man named Hoang, a Vietnamese man, who was in Poland renewing his visa for the Czech Republic. Elder Rhodes also told me that he was in Poland for three times longer than he had promised but Hoang was still making weekly calls telling them about him staying longer and keeping them updated on the situation. While we were at a Halloween Party (that we organized and put together on Thursday) Hoang called. I picked up and he told me something but I couldn't really understand him. Basically what I got was that he'd be in Poland some time longer and that he didn't know when he'd get back. Then on Saturday, we saw Hoang on the town square! He came up to us and asked us if we could meet the next day (Sunday). We said definitely and set up for the evening. Then next day when we were coming back into town after studies, he called us and said that he had something to do later that evening and was wondering if we could come and meet him right away at the building. So we ran over there and he got there just a few minutes before we did. Luckily the other elders were at the building and they let him in and spoke with him for a little while. When we finally got there and settled, he pulled out a restoration pamphlet and started asking a question about one of the terms/definitions at the back. I didn't know how to answer because he didn't know what it was and I certainly didn't know what it was because it was written in Vietnamese. I said that we'd clear that up, but we'd like to start with a prayer first. After the prayer, we asked him about his reading and praying and made sure there weren't any questions about anything besides the definitions. He didn't understand my question when I asked him that, and from that point, I knew that I would have to speak Czech slowly and very simply. I had never had to speak Czech slowly. That was a new challenge. After that, we didn't blow off his question about the definitions, but said that we'd come back to it. Then we went into the lesson about how we can fulfill our purpose here in life better by following Jesus Christ through baptism. He didn't have his Vietnamese Book of Mormon with him, but luckily we had one at the building, so we got that for him. We started by reading Alma 34:32 - about the purpose in life, and that people have a "work" to perform while alive. We asked him what kinds of works he things those are. He didn't know, so we opened to 2 Nephi 31:4-9 - this part speaks about Jesus Christ being baptized and that all people need to do it. We then started talking about the importance of Jesus Christ being baptized and that it is important for every one of us to be baptized as well. Then we went into the way that we need to be baptized. We opened up to 3 Nephi 11:23-26 - Here Jesus Christ himself explains how we need to be baptized. After Hoang read this, he pointed to verse 26 and said, "This, this is it. When can I do this?" That was one of the most amazing times of my mission. We immediately told him that we wanted, and the Lord wanted, him to be baptized on the 18th of December. Without even hesitating, he accepted and then we began to bear more testimony about it. He even told us that it is important to go under the water and then come back up out of the water. Then we told him that we'd like him to come to church on Sunday and told him that it would be at 9:30. He asked if we were still going to have one that evening, and unfortunately we had to tell him that it would be the next week in the morning. He agreed that we could meet a few times during the week and that he really wants to come to church next week. This man is so prepared and I just hope that the language barrier doesn't create too much of a problem.
Other than these, there have been other miracles, like seeing investigators who don't have (working) phones and jumping off the tram to go and set up with them. It just seems that everything here in Plzeň just seems to work. Elder Rhodes and I are getting along very well and I cannot see any foreseeable problems.
I love you all. Sometimes the Lord seeth it fit to try our patience. If you are having a tough time, keep praying, reading the scriptures, attending church and be faithful in hope and patience and the Lord will answer and help us. I read the Joseph Smith History yesterday and I noticed that it was right at the moment when Joseph was about to give in to the evil power that overwhelmed him that he was saved from that power. Just push that little bit further and hold on that little bit longer and the Lord will consecrate our performances for our good.
Lots of Love and Prayers,
Starší Monk
The stuff that I got from the guy who took my pen.
At the train station right before I got on the train to Prague. I was tired. That may explain the strange face that I have on.