Dear Family,
So, today being December first, I began to think: I'm going to be in the CZECH REPUBLIC in a matter of just thirteen days. Is that crazy or what? Yes, very crazy. I was going to write "Very Crazy" in Czech, but I don't know the word for crazy.
Anyway, I got a few Dear Elders from you this past week asking if I was sick this past week and couldn't go and write emails. The answer is: No. I wrote up the entire thing last week and my timer was down to one minute and then my screen flashed and logged me out of the mail, however my timer was still going. So I panicked and logged back on and my email was completely gone. So, I wrote a snail mail to my dad basically saying everything that I wrote in the email, but condensed because my hand hurt. Anyway, I guess my dad hasn't gotten the letter yet. I'm sure when he gets it, he'll type it in here. (Actually, he may have gotten it and has already typed it in and I just don't know cause I can't read the blog :D. So in other words, I'm writing up this long explanation for no apparent reason). I'm glad you guys like to hear me rant about nothing.
So this past week was-- Woah! Aside moment! I just got an email from my dad that said he put the letter into the blog. I swear it wasn't there when I logged on and now it is. It's dated 11/30 at 10:52pm. Way to go MTC mail system!-- was pretty normal.
The RC was awesome this week. I talked to, check this, ONE person. However, we spoke for an hour and a half. It was over chat so it was a little more understandable. He told me that he had seen the missionaries once and they gave him a Book of Mormon and he read it and prayed about it. Then, here we go, he said that the answer he got pointed him toward Islam. How that happened, I don't know. How can reading the Book of Mormon lead you to Islam? Ne vím (I do not know). Anyway, he told me that he had been to mormon.org a few times and had been treated badly by some of the other elders. I'm sure that these elders weren't meaning to treat him badly, but he did have hard questions. I found myself reaching into deep doctrinal answers to answer him, but he seemed to take it very well. It was quite awesome.
We spoke for an hour and a half and I thought that I should talk to him again, so we spent ten minutes trying to figure out when we could meet again. We decided that this Saturday he'll try and get on again so that we can chat. I'm really looking forward to speaking with him again. At one point, we were talking about the after-life and how we can live with God one day, and he asked, "Is there a way that I can have this and still be Muslim?" Sadly, I had to tell him no, but this also told me that he wants to have the blessings our Heavenly Father has for him. I think that if I keep trying with him, he'll begin to build his faith in Christ and come to His church. I also challenged him to meet with the missionaries again, and he accepted. It was super-cool. I know that being in the field is going to be awesome.
Another thing, yesterday during our MDT time, I asked my teacher, Brother Cardon, if I could have just fifteen minutes to practice speaking Czech with him and he agreed. We went into another room and we just began talking about my day, in Czech of course, and I think that we had a pretty good conversation. I said most of what I wanted to say and he would reply back. It wasn't as stressful as the "schuzkas" where they'll say, "Ne rozumím" (I do not understand) if you speak English. Every now and then I'd come to a word that I didn't know and he'd help me by giving me the word. It was pretty awesome. I learned a few new words that are really going to facilitate normal conversation, and at the end I asked him how my Czech was. He said that it was really good and that I shouldn't be worried about going to the Czech Republic; however, I still am. How could I not be?
Anyway, I love you all and thank you for the continued support that I get from you all. OK, I'm going to use my last eight minutes and try and write a small testimony in Czech. =\
Múj milujici rodine, miluju vás vždy. Každy jeden vás jste nejdúležitý na mi. Vím že, Ježíš Kristus je náše spasitel. Vím že, On zemřil pro náše hřichy. Skrze On, vím že, múžeme být čistý pro krev zemi. Miluju moje vykupitel, Ježíše Krista.
That comes out to: My loving family, I love you all. Every one of you are of utmost importance to me. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that He died for our sins. Through Him, I know that we can be clean from the blood of the world. I love my redeemer, Jesus Christ.
I love you all very very much and I hope you can feel that love in your lives from the people around you. I know that the Lord blesses us in our every day lives. Miracles do happen.
Open your eyes and see the blessings. I pray for you all,
Starší Monk