Dear Family,
Here we are sitting at the end of the first week of Awesome April and it has very much so been "awesome." This week was the 181st anniversary of the Church this last Wednesday (6 April 1930 - 6 April 2011) and President Irwin gave us the challenge to give out twenty pamphlets of the restoration and get ten numbers with follow up meetings attached.
The week leading up to Wednesday was pretty normal, but on Wednesday we really had the determination to go out and meet that lofty goal that was given to us. We thought about it and said, "Oh, that's more than accomplishable in Prague or Brno, or maybe even Ostrava, but here in Trebic? That's going to be hard. Perhaps we should only have personal study and then just go out and hit the town so that we can have as much time to work as possible." Yes, we were considering not having companionship and language studies so that we could have two more hours to work. We got a text from the zone leaders that morning saying that we should read through the pamphlet together before we go out and work, so we did that too.
As soon as we set out to start working, there was a new and greater devotion to contacting people, finding the ones that would want a pamphlet, want to meet with us and would want to hear about the restoration of the gospel. About twenty minutes into our finding, we were in a little park (more like a path next to the river) and Elder Vomocil told me to talk to a lady who was approaching us. As she got nearer, I contacted her - probably not the contact that I would usually use to start talking with Czechs. I asked, "We're here talking to people about God. Do you believe in God?" Usually when I do that, they get really freaked out and just run away, shaking their hands, saying, "No, no, not about God. I don't have any interest/time," but this lady said, "Yeah I do." As we continued talking with her, we found out that she believes in God, but doesn't know what or who it is. As we testified to her, she would say, "Yeah, I believe that." Her name is Lenka Kočiřová. She told us about how twenty years ago she developed schizophrenia and only seventeen years she started taking medicine to control it. She expressed to us that she has no one to talk to about God, because she feels that as soon as she does, they'll think that she's gone crazy again and will lock her up in the looney bin. I think that she really felt a relief to speak to us, because we understand. She also spoke a lot about how the world has changed so much, for the worse. No one cares about love or friendship, but only about money and power and receiving. She said so many things that related to the pamphlet, I just had to whip one out about three minutes into the conversation, and I just stood there holding it until she stopped talking enough that I could get a word in and give it to her. We also got her number, but we didn't set anything up with her. She's just so open and we're very sure that she's going to be a great investigator, but more importantly, she's going to find what she's been looking for. I called her yesterday and set up to meet on Friday. She picked up the phone just so happy and enthusiastic - she can definitely feel that we want to help her and she wants someone who she can talk to. She'll be awesome.
Then later, after things weren't going so hot anymore, we were walking on one of the streets along the town square, and we were both kind of burned out. I looked at Elder Vomocil and said, "Hey, let's play a game. Whenever one of us snaps our fingers, the other has to contact someone within ten seconds." He said okay. Then I saw a pretty good crowd of people coming, not three seconds after I finished explaining the game, and snapped my fingers. The group passed us, and afterward, there wasn't really anyone. I looked at Elder Vomocil a little sad that the group passed and that it was so much smaller than it had seemed. I stopped counting and kept walking, but Elder Vomocil was still counting. Randomly, it seemed to me, he contacted a younger girl a little way down the street. We started talking and she said, "Já nemluvím česky." (I don't speak Czech.) She told us in pretty decent Czech, but you could tell it was difficult, that she was from Russia and that she doesn't speak Czech very well. Well, us as missionaries, know at least two languages: Czech and English, so I asked her if she knew English, in English. She looked at me and said, "Of course." We continued to speak with her. The more the conversation went on, she got a little on my nerves because she was trying to tell us that no one can know about these kinds of things and that we shouldn't believe them, that we should live our own lives. That's a pet-peeve that I've come to realize this transfer: when someone tries to tell me what I believe - it gets under my skin really fast. Elder Vomocil, on the other hand, was completely fine with it and just kept bearing testimony about the things that we do know, and that she could find out too. We challenged her to hear our message because we promised that it was something that she hasn't heard before. She agreed and seemed really excited to meet with us. Whether it be because we're two American boys, or because she can't do anything here in Trebic, because, as she explained it, "after five o'clock, it's like a nuclear bomb went off." She's from Moscow, so she's used to the larger cities. Her name is Valerie. The next day, we saw her on a patio of a restaurant with a couple of guys and we remembered that she told us that it would be her birthday. We said hi and kept going. She looked really surprised to see us and responded, "ahoj." As we got down the street a little way further, we sent her a text saying, "Happy Birthday, even though the bomb in Trebic has already gone off." She wrote back and said, "Dík :)" (thanks). We called her yesterday and asked if we could meet later in the week and she told us she's in Prague right now, so we'll call her tomorrow to set something up later in the week. At least she said that she wants to meet with us. Pretty cool.
Then a little later, the same day, I really wanted some ice-cream because we had been walking around town all day, and had probably been on our feet about six or seven hours at this point. There was a little ice cream place that I had seen a few days earlier kind of back off the river-walk park and thought, why don't we go there. We went there and the guy said, "Well hey guys. It's been a while since you've come. Your friends used to come all the time, and I just thought you guys stopped liking ice-cream or something." We had a fun little conversation with him. Perhaps we'll go there more often and slowly give him pamphlets or something to read, because I'm sure he doesn't get a ton of business. After we got our ice cream, we went and sat on one of the benches in that river park and were maybe sitting there ten minutes when a guy stopped and said, in Czech, "Hard work guys?" Elder Vomocil said, "Not really. We're just sitting eating ice-cream taking a break. That's not very hard work." The guy laughed a little and asked if we were the guys who walked around town talking to people about our religion. We said yes. We started talking with him, and he was really cool. We eventually ended up in English, and he speaks really well. His name is Milan. We ended up giving him a pamphlet and asked him to read it because it's our unique message. He said he'd like to meet with us but didn't know when he'd have time, so we exchanged phone numbers and said that we'd call some other time to set something up. We also told him to read the pamphlet and that we'd talk a little more about it next time. He said that he'd do it and that he was looking forward to next time.
That day was just filled with big and small miracles. Elder Vomocil and I have been waiting for us to get cut some slack and I think that the Lord finally gave us some. We didn't reach the twenty pamphlets goal or the ten numbers with meetings goal, but we did give out three pamphlets and got three numbers and we felt that we worked our very hardest that day. All three of these people, Lenka, Valerie and Milan, are all so cool and we just can't wait to meet with them all again.
We got conference this last week and watched the Sunday morning session for church. It was fantastic. Dana was there and she seemed to like it as well. We went over to her place afterward for lunch and a meeting. She's doing well. She's still really stressed out with school because it's coming down to the final few weeks and wrap-up for everything, but she did come to church! She's also making other progress in other ways, but that's too long of a story to write up here and now. Basically, she told us that she knows exactly what it's going to mean to start investigating the church more fully, because she knows it's true, and she knows that she needs to change a lot of things in her life to come in line with the gospel. She's doing very well. She knows what she has to do, but she's a little afraid of it, but for good reasons. She knows it'll be tough, but she also knows it'll be worth it.
I'm so happy to be here as a missionary right now! I wouldn't be any other place than right here. People sometimes say that we're crazy to let the church drive us around and control us for two years, but really, the church just gives us the calling, and then we drive ourselves and we do it because we want to and know that it's what the Lord wants of us. I love you all very much and hope that everything is going well for you as well.
Much love and prayers,
Starší Monk