Dear Family,
How are all of you? This past week was pretty sad... number-wise. Every week we have to make goals of what we want to accomplish the next week and then through the week we take down what we actually get in a few different categories. With Elder Price, we were always teaching up around twenty lessons a week, and then this transfer it came down a little to about fifteen. That's a pretty easy way to guage how the week was. Then this past week, we had five lessons. Yeah, it was pretty sad. But the thing is, it's not because we weren't working. We probably weren't working as hard as we could because Elder Thompson is having personal problems, I was feeling home sick and Elder Mills has been literally sick this past week. All-in-all, things haven't been so great this last week, but right now we're feeling very good and ready to do better this week! Things are looking good. The weather is awesome and people are in the parks.
Hmm... since we didn't do a whole lot this week, what can I tell you? Oh, I can tell you a few little interesting stories. :-)
Well, this one dates back to the beginning of this transfer, so about a month and a half ago. At that point I had been companions with Elders Thompson and Mills for about a week or so, and we went out panelak-ing (tracting) and we got up to the one that we wanted to get into. So Elder Thompson goes up to try and get someone to let us in (basically you have to buzz someone and ask them to let you into the building because the doors are locked and can be unlocked from any of the apartments) and Elder Thompson asks, "Mužete nás pustit?" and he got rejected. Then Elder Mills tried and also got rejected. Then I, being the Czech idiot that I am, get up and try. Instead of saying what the others said, even though I tried, I said, "Mužete nás odpustit?" which basically comes out to "Can you forgive us?" Gah... they had a good time laughing at me for that one. The guy on the other end was a little confused and he didn't end up opening the door for me.
Then this last Tuesday, we were out contacting people outside because it was really nice weather, and people were out on the naměstí and in the parks. Anyway, how we do contacting with the three of us is that one of us goes off alone and the other two of us go and contact together. We only do this for about twenty minute increments and then go and switch again. Well, on this one occasion, Elder Thompson and I were together and we were walking through the park. This day was being particularly hard for us and all of us weren't feeling really good about the work. So Thompson and I were walking around, and while we were going through the park, there were about five people together in a group up the path from us. Three of them were sitting and two were standing. They just looked like 20-25 year old guys, two girls and three guys and I think that Elder Thompson was thinking the same thing that I was thinking - let's just walk past them and keep talking. I guess one of the guys, who was kind of a jerk decided to be a wise guy and stop us and ask why we're dressed all weird. So he stopped us and we started talking with them - and when I say us, I mean I stood there and looked like I was understanding everything. Basically the guy was asking dumb questions - found out that we're from America, asked if we had Czech girlfriends yet (everyone here is obsessed with the fact that they have really beautiful girls in the Czech Republic and they all want to know our opinion about them - that makes for very awkward conversations sometimes) and we told them no. Elder Thompson told them that he already had one, and then the guy started asking really weird personal questions about him and his girlfriend. One of the girls on the bench stopped him and said, that's personal stuff, you don't ask about that. Then we started talking with them because the other guy had to take a phone call, which luckily, lasted the rest of the time. We spoke to the three on the bench, because the other guy standing didn't seem particularly interested, but the three on the bench did. We spoke to them a while about why we're here as missionaries, how our church is different from the Catholic church and why we need to find out for ourselves if the thing we have is important. At the end we gave them pass along cards and I'm hoping that they call us, because they seemed really cool/interested. We also told them that we had a free English class every Tuesday, and actually we had to leave so that we could prepare for it. They seemed kind of torn whether to come to that or not, but they actually gave it some consideration. They didn't come, but perhaps they will come other time.
That was a good experience just to get us feeling good about the work again, because it seemed like it had been forever since we had spoken with anyone.
As for the language, this last week has been amazing. I've been really struggling with comprehension of the language. Many times I'll be able to pick out one or two words from a sentence before they're already talking about the next thing. My speaking ability is okay, but still no where close to where I want it to be, but this last week both have shot up, especially my understanding! I'm very, very stoked about it. It seems like something just all of a sudden clicked. Things make sense and I can understand what people are talking about. It's not just random words being thrown together. Of course I still have to pay attention really hard and listen to what they're saying, but I get it now! Well, still it's only about 50-60% at best, but it's better than the 10% I had before. :D
Well, that's about all that I have for this week. I can't really think up much more to really say right now. You all know, but I'll say it again, I love you all very much. Miss you all, but I know that I'm here for the right reason at the right time. Sometimes it's hard, but I love the support that you all give me. I'm praying for you all and hope that you all are having a great success in your own lives!
S Laskou (With Love),
Starší Monk
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Put Some Gas in the Engine!
Dear Family,
This week has been really tough for all three of us here in the Zliner. First of all, this week was "baptismal date week," but we didn't get any. None of our investigators are anywhere near ready to be receiving one, and the only one that may even be close to it is across the country on vacation with his girlfriend. Interesting. Anyway, he had an eight hour train ride, and he said that he'd read the entire Book of Mormon, so we're very excited for that. But other than that, there is not much that's going down here.
I guess there are a few little stories that I can tell you. One of the new investigators that we got this past week is named Anna G. (I truly can't remember her last name because it's like someone put the alphabet in the blender and then poured it into a cup). She's been an investigator before, and was dropped a few times. She's a Seventh-Day Adventist and for those of you, like me, who don't know who they are, they're a religious group who's entire church is built upon the fact that the sabbath is on Saturday. Not Sunday, but Saturday. They also can't get over the fact that we don't use wine for the sacrament and that we have prophets, even though their church was founded by a prophetess, which to me makes even less sense. So they're super super bible-oriented and will not believe anything else to be the word of God basically. They're of that category. So, they started a little after our church did in 1820 and they were of the same group that the Jehovah's Witnesses came from. Basically there was a group of people that "knew" when Jesus was going to come again, and when that day came and He didn't, the group split into two - 1, the Jehovah's Witnesses who say that Jesus DID come, but he came invisibly and that we're actually living during the millennium right now; and 2, the Seventh Day adventists who followed a prophetess who started their group and I don't know a whole lot more. Both groups talk about how we don't need revelation because we already have God's word and that everything that we need to know is already there. Well, I'd like to refer them to the passage in 2nd Nephi (I think - probably around chapter 15 or 17) where it says something along the lines of "A Bible, A Bible, we already have a Bible and have no need of more. Oh ye wicked people, do ye suppose that God only speaks to one nation when there are many upon the face of the earth and that they do keep their own records?" That is by no means the exact scripture, but that's the overall effect that it has. Anyway, so now that you have a little bit of a hold on what kind of lady this is, add on top of it that she's probably about 65 years old and has lived this religion for a long time.
Tak jo (ok...), we went to her church this last Saturday, and it was probably one of the strangest experiences of my life. We came into the church, not a bad building, very modern and very stereotypical new age church building, and the guy who was leading read us a scripture to start and then he said some stuff for about five minutes, read another scripture, and then we went to scripture study. Seriously, we just barely sat down, had no prayer, had no song, and then went to scripture study. Very strange indeed, but whatever. So in scripture study, we all sat around a table and they opened their bibles and their little notebooks of stuff. Basically kind of a study guide, which also had weird topics like "I am... Truth" "Truth is Fruit of the Spirit" and other things which were really weird to make your subjects. Anyway, we sat through that and it wasn't all that bad, except at the end they had a really leading question intended for us to try and get us to admit that our religion is weird and we do things wrong, but we all just acted like dumb Americans who don't understand what they're saying and kind of zoned out at the ceiling or the walls. Then we went back to the place that we had originally been, and we had a few songs and some praying (which were very weird). If you thought that the people in Provo or Salt Lake City are bad when they get up to pray for like five or ten minutes are bad, come to one of these peoples' churches. Each person who prayed, prayed for at least five minutes, but it was more like a drama script and people all around kept muttering to themselves "amen" and "ano" when they agreed with what the person said. Then they also had a praying time when you turn to the person next to you and pray to each other. That was probably the weirdest. I was lucky enough to be next to Starší Thompson and we just said a normal prayer to God during that time. Then the song at the end was like this jazzy hip hop thing that was way weird. Really caught all of us off guard, and Elder Thompson almost laughed during it. Glad that he didn't. That's all I'm going to talk about it, because I could probably talk a lot longer about it, but the other things are minimal. I can just tell you, they are very very stuck on having the Sabbath on Saturday, but don't you think that there are other gospel topics which are of much more importance?
Kind of like the Jehovah's Witnesses. A week or two ago we had a meeting with some JW's and they told us straight, "It doesn't matter who God is, or what He does, as long as we know His name." Really?! I think that actions are more important than names. What if I were to punch someone in the face, would they want to know why I just did it or what my name is? Perhaps they'd want my name so they can report it to the cops, but just knowing my name for name's sake. That's kinda dumb and kinda getting stuck on little details.
What else can I tell you? Oh! This past week was really hard because we're all running out of steam. All three of us, as I said at the beginning. before I got on my Seventh Day Adventist and Jehovah's Witnesses rant, are having a hard week. Elder Thompson's girlfriend basically told him that he either needs to come home to be with her or to not have her waiting for him anymore. Elder Mills is having his own problems, and I don't know what they are. And as for me(!) I'm homesick for the first time in my life. I don't think that I can remember a time when I've been homesick before. Kinda sucks. I don't recommend it. Don't do it. It's like drugs, except without the fun part. It just sucks. Anyway, I did a few things today that seemed to have helped. We had a kind of slow week, so that didn't help, but we're all excited for Zone Conference, and we know that that will boost our spirits.
Anyway, nearly out of time. Hope that you're all doing well and that you're ready for spring, because here it comes! I sure know that I am. I'm ready for people to actually stop and speak with me for longer than five seconds because it's not cold outside anymore. It'll be awesome. Push through the hard and then the blessings come. Kind of my entire mission experience so far - push through the winter and spring will arrive.
Anyway, love you all and hope that you can feel my love every day,
Starší Monk
This week has been really tough for all three of us here in the Zliner. First of all, this week was "baptismal date week," but we didn't get any. None of our investigators are anywhere near ready to be receiving one, and the only one that may even be close to it is across the country on vacation with his girlfriend. Interesting. Anyway, he had an eight hour train ride, and he said that he'd read the entire Book of Mormon, so we're very excited for that. But other than that, there is not much that's going down here.
I guess there are a few little stories that I can tell you. One of the new investigators that we got this past week is named Anna G. (I truly can't remember her last name because it's like someone put the alphabet in the blender and then poured it into a cup). She's been an investigator before, and was dropped a few times. She's a Seventh-Day Adventist and for those of you, like me, who don't know who they are, they're a religious group who's entire church is built upon the fact that the sabbath is on Saturday. Not Sunday, but Saturday. They also can't get over the fact that we don't use wine for the sacrament and that we have prophets, even though their church was founded by a prophetess, which to me makes even less sense. So they're super super bible-oriented and will not believe anything else to be the word of God basically. They're of that category. So, they started a little after our church did in 1820 and they were of the same group that the Jehovah's Witnesses came from. Basically there was a group of people that "knew" when Jesus was going to come again, and when that day came and He didn't, the group split into two - 1, the Jehovah's Witnesses who say that Jesus DID come, but he came invisibly and that we're actually living during the millennium right now; and 2, the Seventh Day adventists who followed a prophetess who started their group and I don't know a whole lot more. Both groups talk about how we don't need revelation because we already have God's word and that everything that we need to know is already there. Well, I'd like to refer them to the passage in 2nd Nephi (I think - probably around chapter 15 or 17) where it says something along the lines of "A Bible, A Bible, we already have a Bible and have no need of more. Oh ye wicked people, do ye suppose that God only speaks to one nation when there are many upon the face of the earth and that they do keep their own records?" That is by no means the exact scripture, but that's the overall effect that it has. Anyway, so now that you have a little bit of a hold on what kind of lady this is, add on top of it that she's probably about 65 years old and has lived this religion for a long time.
Tak jo (ok...), we went to her church this last Saturday, and it was probably one of the strangest experiences of my life. We came into the church, not a bad building, very modern and very stereotypical new age church building, and the guy who was leading read us a scripture to start and then he said some stuff for about five minutes, read another scripture, and then we went to scripture study. Seriously, we just barely sat down, had no prayer, had no song, and then went to scripture study. Very strange indeed, but whatever. So in scripture study, we all sat around a table and they opened their bibles and their little notebooks of stuff. Basically kind of a study guide, which also had weird topics like "I am... Truth" "Truth is Fruit of the Spirit" and other things which were really weird to make your subjects. Anyway, we sat through that and it wasn't all that bad, except at the end they had a really leading question intended for us to try and get us to admit that our religion is weird and we do things wrong, but we all just acted like dumb Americans who don't understand what they're saying and kind of zoned out at the ceiling or the walls. Then we went back to the place that we had originally been, and we had a few songs and some praying (which were very weird). If you thought that the people in Provo or Salt Lake City are bad when they get up to pray for like five or ten minutes are bad, come to one of these peoples' churches. Each person who prayed, prayed for at least five minutes, but it was more like a drama script and people all around kept muttering to themselves "amen" and "ano" when they agreed with what the person said. Then they also had a praying time when you turn to the person next to you and pray to each other. That was probably the weirdest. I was lucky enough to be next to Starší Thompson and we just said a normal prayer to God during that time. Then the song at the end was like this jazzy hip hop thing that was way weird. Really caught all of us off guard, and Elder Thompson almost laughed during it. Glad that he didn't. That's all I'm going to talk about it, because I could probably talk a lot longer about it, but the other things are minimal. I can just tell you, they are very very stuck on having the Sabbath on Saturday, but don't you think that there are other gospel topics which are of much more importance?
Kind of like the Jehovah's Witnesses. A week or two ago we had a meeting with some JW's and they told us straight, "It doesn't matter who God is, or what He does, as long as we know His name." Really?! I think that actions are more important than names. What if I were to punch someone in the face, would they want to know why I just did it or what my name is? Perhaps they'd want my name so they can report it to the cops, but just knowing my name for name's sake. That's kinda dumb and kinda getting stuck on little details.
What else can I tell you? Oh! This past week was really hard because we're all running out of steam. All three of us, as I said at the beginning. before I got on my Seventh Day Adventist and Jehovah's Witnesses rant, are having a hard week. Elder Thompson's girlfriend basically told him that he either needs to come home to be with her or to not have her waiting for him anymore. Elder Mills is having his own problems, and I don't know what they are. And as for me(!) I'm homesick for the first time in my life. I don't think that I can remember a time when I've been homesick before. Kinda sucks. I don't recommend it. Don't do it. It's like drugs, except without the fun part. It just sucks. Anyway, I did a few things today that seemed to have helped. We had a kind of slow week, so that didn't help, but we're all excited for Zone Conference, and we know that that will boost our spirits.
Anyway, nearly out of time. Hope that you're all doing well and that you're ready for spring, because here it comes! I sure know that I am. I'm ready for people to actually stop and speak with me for longer than five seconds because it's not cold outside anymore. It'll be awesome. Push through the hard and then the blessings come. Kind of my entire mission experience so far - push through the winter and spring will arrive.
Anyway, love you all and hope that you can feel my love every day,
Starší Monk
Monday, March 15, 2010
Not much to say, but I can always talk about investigators
Dear Family,
Like the title says, I don't really have much to say this week. This last week was our "bring investigators to church" week and the challenge was to bring two people to church per companionship. The mission got 63 people to church out of the mission-wide goal of 70. Not quite our goal, but still very awesome. In Zlin we had two people come to church, but it was a bit of a miracle.
First, let me talk a little about Kristina. She's a Roman lady (gypsy - they're called Romans here - perhaps because they're from Romania? Nevím) and she's been investigating the church for a long while. She's had a baptismal date in the past and then she was dropped because she wasn't making any progress and she didn't really understand then things the missionaries were talking to her about. Like, she'd hear everything and she'd understand the words (rozumět) but she wouldn't understand the concepts (chápat). It would seem like everything would be in one ear and then back out the other by the next week or the next lesson. So, after she was dropped, she went on her way and lived life without the church, and then SHE recontacted the missionaries one day when she saw them on the naměstí. So the missionaries started teaching her and she started coming to church every sunday, but she had the same problem.
With Elder Price and me, she seemed to be making progress. She'd say that she started to feel something different. We interpreted that as she was beginning to like visiting us and she liked the things we were teaching her. So we gave her a baptismal date hoping that she'd progress enough to eventually be worthy of baptism and then she could continue to progress like the rest of us so we can live one day with our Heavenly Father. Well, Elder Price left and then I got two new companions. Elder Thompson and Mills are very gung-ho about trying to root out the people who aren't going to progress very fast and find the elect. So they saw that Kristina had a baptismal date and said, "Ok, she's going to be awesome. Let's meet with her and see how she's doing." They knew that she'd need some work, but it turned out that she was far behind where they thought she was. So we decided to have a week where we'd meet with her every day for thirty minutes and see how short powerful meetings would go. We met with her the first time and it turned aggressive. It wasn't ugly or anything, but it wasn't a very nice lesson either. Then the next lesson she came thirty minutes late and I had to teach both the English classes while Elder Thompson and Mills went and had our meeting with Kristina. They said that in the lesson she specifically said that she was Catholic and didn't see the reason why she needed to change. Things continued to go downhill until the end of our meeting on Wednesday when she asked if she had to come the next day. We told her that she didn't have to do anything that she didn't want to. So it turned out that the next day she didn't come to her meeting, and from her member friend on Sunday, we found out that she had told her to not come to the meeting either. Then on Sunday, she didn't come to church for the first time since I've come to Zlín. That was very surprising. So at this point, we don't have a baptismal date for her anymore. She kind of dropped herself.
Then this past week we started teaching this one guy from our "finding week" named Vojta. At the first meeting he told us that he's only curious about what we believe and that if we have more promising people, we should talk to them more. Little did he know, he was showing all the signs of being interested. So we kept teaching him, and he continues to get more and more interested and curious. He likes to speak English with us because he doesn't get many opportunities to speak because here in the Czech Republic all the people who can "speak" English sound like they're half brain-dead. So we meet with him in English and this last meeting we invited him to come to church. He was a little hesitant but he eventually accepted-- but only because he was curious about what our meetings are like. Little did he know that that curiosity is from God.
So, church. This week was all about bringing investigators to church and the goal was two per companionship and we made it. So, Sunday rolls around, and we're hoping that Tomaš will show up because he hadn't come the past three weeks, and then this past week made four weeks he's missed. Don't know what's happening with him. He used to come every single week, but now he's basically fallen off the side of the earth. We waited and then a man from our English class came. He's an elderly man named Bohumir. He used to be an investigator, but he just loves his alcohol far too much. He's told the missionaries that at one time he made 500 liters of wine and then drank it all himself. Crazy. Then later while we were waiting outside for Vojta to show up and he did right as we were about to walk back inside because we thought that he wasn't going to come. So he showed up and then he sat next to his member friend - Ondřej Běliček (he came to the last meeting where we asked him to come to church, but he doesn't understand English, so he looked a little like me when I first arrived in the country - completely zoned out). Then about ten minutes into the meeting, Kristina arrived! I guess she just needed a week to cool off, but it was amazing. I made sure to talk to her and smile at her as much as possible to make her know that there were no hard feelings. We weren't being mean to her on purpose, it's just that sometimes as missionaries, we don't know the language well enough to be subtle with people. So between Vojta, Bohumir and Kristina, who both really aren't investigators so we counted them as one investigator coming to church, we made our goal!
I just think that it was an amazing miracle that Kristina, for whatever reason she has, keeps having the desire to continue coming back to us. Perhaps something will happen with her in the future. I hope that something does. She's a great person, a little closed off, but still a great person. She's not the person you look at and say she's a kingdom builder, but I know she has some talents that the Lord can use for building up the Kingdom. I hope that missionary who can touch her heart comes along soon so that she will not stay away from the church any longer than she has to.
I know the blessings are there, we just need to open our eyes, look around, and realize that everything that we see is not ours, it's our Heavenly Father's. Be grateful for everything and ask for nothing more than what we need after we have done everything we can for ourselves. The Lord will bless us in that time, and I know that he loves us dearly. I send you my love and hope you all know that.
Much love,
Starší Monk
Like the title says, I don't really have much to say this week. This last week was our "bring investigators to church" week and the challenge was to bring two people to church per companionship. The mission got 63 people to church out of the mission-wide goal of 70. Not quite our goal, but still very awesome. In Zlin we had two people come to church, but it was a bit of a miracle.
First, let me talk a little about Kristina. She's a Roman lady (gypsy - they're called Romans here - perhaps because they're from Romania? Nevím) and she's been investigating the church for a long while. She's had a baptismal date in the past and then she was dropped because she wasn't making any progress and she didn't really understand then things the missionaries were talking to her about. Like, she'd hear everything and she'd understand the words (rozumět) but she wouldn't understand the concepts (chápat). It would seem like everything would be in one ear and then back out the other by the next week or the next lesson. So, after she was dropped, she went on her way and lived life without the church, and then SHE recontacted the missionaries one day when she saw them on the naměstí. So the missionaries started teaching her and she started coming to church every sunday, but she had the same problem.
With Elder Price and me, she seemed to be making progress. She'd say that she started to feel something different. We interpreted that as she was beginning to like visiting us and she liked the things we were teaching her. So we gave her a baptismal date hoping that she'd progress enough to eventually be worthy of baptism and then she could continue to progress like the rest of us so we can live one day with our Heavenly Father. Well, Elder Price left and then I got two new companions. Elder Thompson and Mills are very gung-ho about trying to root out the people who aren't going to progress very fast and find the elect. So they saw that Kristina had a baptismal date and said, "Ok, she's going to be awesome. Let's meet with her and see how she's doing." They knew that she'd need some work, but it turned out that she was far behind where they thought she was. So we decided to have a week where we'd meet with her every day for thirty minutes and see how short powerful meetings would go. We met with her the first time and it turned aggressive. It wasn't ugly or anything, but it wasn't a very nice lesson either. Then the next lesson she came thirty minutes late and I had to teach both the English classes while Elder Thompson and Mills went and had our meeting with Kristina. They said that in the lesson she specifically said that she was Catholic and didn't see the reason why she needed to change. Things continued to go downhill until the end of our meeting on Wednesday when she asked if she had to come the next day. We told her that she didn't have to do anything that she didn't want to. So it turned out that the next day she didn't come to her meeting, and from her member friend on Sunday, we found out that she had told her to not come to the meeting either. Then on Sunday, she didn't come to church for the first time since I've come to Zlín. That was very surprising. So at this point, we don't have a baptismal date for her anymore. She kind of dropped herself.
Then this past week we started teaching this one guy from our "finding week" named Vojta. At the first meeting he told us that he's only curious about what we believe and that if we have more promising people, we should talk to them more. Little did he know, he was showing all the signs of being interested. So we kept teaching him, and he continues to get more and more interested and curious. He likes to speak English with us because he doesn't get many opportunities to speak because here in the Czech Republic all the people who can "speak" English sound like they're half brain-dead. So we meet with him in English and this last meeting we invited him to come to church. He was a little hesitant but he eventually accepted-- but only because he was curious about what our meetings are like. Little did he know that that curiosity is from God.
So, church. This week was all about bringing investigators to church and the goal was two per companionship and we made it. So, Sunday rolls around, and we're hoping that Tomaš will show up because he hadn't come the past three weeks, and then this past week made four weeks he's missed. Don't know what's happening with him. He used to come every single week, but now he's basically fallen off the side of the earth. We waited and then a man from our English class came. He's an elderly man named Bohumir. He used to be an investigator, but he just loves his alcohol far too much. He's told the missionaries that at one time he made 500 liters of wine and then drank it all himself. Crazy. Then later while we were waiting outside for Vojta to show up and he did right as we were about to walk back inside because we thought that he wasn't going to come. So he showed up and then he sat next to his member friend - Ondřej Běliček (he came to the last meeting where we asked him to come to church, but he doesn't understand English, so he looked a little like me when I first arrived in the country - completely zoned out). Then about ten minutes into the meeting, Kristina arrived! I guess she just needed a week to cool off, but it was amazing. I made sure to talk to her and smile at her as much as possible to make her know that there were no hard feelings. We weren't being mean to her on purpose, it's just that sometimes as missionaries, we don't know the language well enough to be subtle with people. So between Vojta, Bohumir and Kristina, who both really aren't investigators so we counted them as one investigator coming to church, we made our goal!
I just think that it was an amazing miracle that Kristina, for whatever reason she has, keeps having the desire to continue coming back to us. Perhaps something will happen with her in the future. I hope that something does. She's a great person, a little closed off, but still a great person. She's not the person you look at and say she's a kingdom builder, but I know she has some talents that the Lord can use for building up the Kingdom. I hope that missionary who can touch her heart comes along soon so that she will not stay away from the church any longer than she has to.
I know the blessings are there, we just need to open our eyes, look around, and realize that everything that we see is not ours, it's our Heavenly Father's. Be grateful for everything and ask for nothing more than what we need after we have done everything we can for ourselves. The Lord will bless us in that time, and I know that he loves us dearly. I send you my love and hope you all know that.
Much love,
Starší Monk
Monday, March 8, 2010
Mission-Wide Unity
Dear Family,
The week before last we had zone conferences. (There are two zones, I believe. There is the Moravia and Slovak Republic Zone and the Bohemia Zone.) The Slovačkovi have presented quite a plan for us. First let me tell you a little about zone conferences. They only happen once or twice a transfer (every nine weeks) and they're a way that we keep up morale in the mission. Missionary work is very draining and can be physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausting. I've only been here for almost three months and I can attest to every one of those. So in zone conferences we have training on different aspects of missionary work so that we get a fresh outlook on the work and see different ways we can approach the same problem; we have talks from president and his wife and we have time to talk together! Sometimes just meeting with the other missionaries and talking can be one of the best ways to boost yourselves because we all understand that the work is hard and we can share strange/funny experiences that we've had. Then throughout the transfer, we have district meetings where the separate districts get together in much smaller groups (ours is Zlín and Uherské Hradiště) and we try and keep the spirit and morale that we built during zone conference.
Anyway, upward and onward. At this last conference, President said that the next week (the one we just finished) would be "finding week" and he wanted to find 115 new investigators during the week. Then we'll have "bring people to church week;" he wants us to bring 70 people to church. And then we'll have "baptismal commitment week" and he wants to get 50 baptismal dates from people. That's quite lofty, but we must do it in order to get some baptisms this transfer.
So this last week in Zlín, we had one day where we had the zone leaders from Olomouc come down to the ol' Zlíner and have exchanges. I was lucky enough to be in the two-some. :-)
That day we found many potentials who said that they'd like to sit down and talk about the gospel with us and that they'd have time to talk. So the next couple days we worked hard to get those people into lessons and hopefully get another lesson set up with them so that they'd count toward our investigator goal. Elder Nestman (one of our zone leaders) and I were on exchanges together. We contacted one guy and we sat down for a little while, taught him a lesson, prayed and then got his number. We didn't set up another appointment because he said that he works on call, so he doesn't know what his work schedule will be. So, I'm still trying to set something up with him. Then later we ran into a guy who spoke perfect English and didn't look Czech at all and, as we found out quite readily, is from Armenia. He said that he has an apartment in Armenia that he's been renting to the church for missionaries for about four years, and he's seen that they are people with good standards. He agreed to meet with us some time, but he wants us to meet his Evangelical missionary friends. That should be interesting. He wants to do that sometime this week. Then we tried contacting one lady and she looked at us and would only say, "Běžte. Běžte." (Run! Run! - but more in the rude manner like - get out of my face). Then right after there was this short husky black man who smiled at us and said, "Hello, boys" in English which sparked our attention. We talked to him and he said that he was only saying hi to try and boost our spirits because he doesn't know how we can treated so badly and still smile afterward. We started talking to him and learned that he's from London and he teaches English at the university here. He wants to set up a sports thing here in Zlín to try and keep some of the people from drinking on Saturday night. We already have sports on Saturday night so we might have him join us. That'd be awesome. He said that he's not really interested in our message, but if we get this working out, we may get some referrals from people that come to the sports activity. By the end of the day, we had gotten about four numbers and one or two people who didn't have phones but were very interested, so we gave them a card with our number on it, so they can call us.
So we got many, many meetings set up for the rest of the week and were trying to find the people that would turn into investigators. At one point we had a possible eight new investigators, but we only got three. People would just call and say that they had something else that they had to go to, or that they couldn't make it. It's pretty common. We want two baptisms this transfer so to get that, we need:
I love you all very much, and I hope that you all can see the little things that God gives to us every day. Breathe deeply and be grateful. :-)
Starší Monk
The week before last we had zone conferences. (There are two zones, I believe. There is the Moravia and Slovak Republic Zone and the Bohemia Zone.) The Slovačkovi have presented quite a plan for us. First let me tell you a little about zone conferences. They only happen once or twice a transfer (every nine weeks) and they're a way that we keep up morale in the mission. Missionary work is very draining and can be physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausting. I've only been here for almost three months and I can attest to every one of those. So in zone conferences we have training on different aspects of missionary work so that we get a fresh outlook on the work and see different ways we can approach the same problem; we have talks from president and his wife and we have time to talk together! Sometimes just meeting with the other missionaries and talking can be one of the best ways to boost yourselves because we all understand that the work is hard and we can share strange/funny experiences that we've had. Then throughout the transfer, we have district meetings where the separate districts get together in much smaller groups (ours is Zlín and Uherské Hradiště) and we try and keep the spirit and morale that we built during zone conference.
Anyway, upward and onward. At this last conference, President said that the next week (the one we just finished) would be "finding week" and he wanted to find 115 new investigators during the week. Then we'll have "bring people to church week;" he wants us to bring 70 people to church. And then we'll have "baptismal commitment week" and he wants to get 50 baptismal dates from people. That's quite lofty, but we must do it in order to get some baptisms this transfer.
So this last week in Zlín, we had one day where we had the zone leaders from Olomouc come down to the ol' Zlíner and have exchanges. I was lucky enough to be in the two-some. :-)
That day we found many potentials who said that they'd like to sit down and talk about the gospel with us and that they'd have time to talk. So the next couple days we worked hard to get those people into lessons and hopefully get another lesson set up with them so that they'd count toward our investigator goal. Elder Nestman (one of our zone leaders) and I were on exchanges together. We contacted one guy and we sat down for a little while, taught him a lesson, prayed and then got his number. We didn't set up another appointment because he said that he works on call, so he doesn't know what his work schedule will be. So, I'm still trying to set something up with him. Then later we ran into a guy who spoke perfect English and didn't look Czech at all and, as we found out quite readily, is from Armenia. He said that he has an apartment in Armenia that he's been renting to the church for missionaries for about four years, and he's seen that they are people with good standards. He agreed to meet with us some time, but he wants us to meet his Evangelical missionary friends. That should be interesting. He wants to do that sometime this week. Then we tried contacting one lady and she looked at us and would only say, "Běžte. Běžte." (Run! Run! - but more in the rude manner like - get out of my face). Then right after there was this short husky black man who smiled at us and said, "Hello, boys" in English which sparked our attention. We talked to him and he said that he was only saying hi to try and boost our spirits because he doesn't know how we can treated so badly and still smile afterward. We started talking to him and learned that he's from London and he teaches English at the university here. He wants to set up a sports thing here in Zlín to try and keep some of the people from drinking on Saturday night. We already have sports on Saturday night so we might have him join us. That'd be awesome. He said that he's not really interested in our message, but if we get this working out, we may get some referrals from people that come to the sports activity. By the end of the day, we had gotten about four numbers and one or two people who didn't have phones but were very interested, so we gave them a card with our number on it, so they can call us.
So we got many, many meetings set up for the rest of the week and were trying to find the people that would turn into investigators. At one point we had a possible eight new investigators, but we only got three. People would just call and say that they had something else that they had to go to, or that they couldn't make it. It's pretty common. We want two baptisms this transfer so to get that, we need:
- 2 baptisms
- 6 baptismal dates
- 18 progressing investigators
- 54 investigators
- 162 potential investigators
I love you all very much, and I hope that you all can see the little things that God gives to us every day. Breathe deeply and be grateful. :-)
Starší Monk
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Zlín Photographs
"Do you miss me?"
Elder Monk and Elder Price
Elder Price and Elder Monk
Zlín district as of December 16, 2009
Elder Monk, Sister Lier, Sister Reese, Elder Price
"I'm so happy to be here."
Someone doesn't seem to like Christmas.
Elder Price
Andy mentioned going to give a blessing
to an inactive member who was in the hospital.
I wonder if this is her.
Zlín
Zlín
The chapel in Zlín
Time for a little fun.
"Good morning."
Zlín district as of February 17, 2010
Sister Hill, Elder Thompson, Elder Mills,
Elder Monk, Sister Reese.
Prague Photographs
Prague, December 15, 2009
Prague, December 15, 2009
Prague, December 15, 2009
Prague, December 15, 2009
New Missionary "Bunkhouse"
Prague, December 15, 2009
Monday, March 1, 2010
Awkward Situations in Missionary Work
Dear Family,
How are all of you? Hope things are going well. Well, I've got a story for you guys. I'm feeling that it's going to be one of the ones that I tell after I get home from the mission. I'm not quite sure if it's done though... I'll let you know later.
Well, it started all the way from last week on Monday night. On P-days, we only get free time until 6:00 and then we have to work again. So, we had three meetings set up and we were going to have a full night of teaching, but throughout our P-day, they all canceled for one reason or another. That's no bother, we just went out and tracted the last half of a panelak (big communist "apartment" building) that we had done a few days before. This one was pretty large - thirteen floors with seven doors on each floor. We had gotten down to the seventh floor before so we decided to start there. So we're going door to door and having no success and so we keep going. Pretty good description of missionary work most of the time :P
Then we got down to the second floor and Elder Thompson and Mills were just being silly. Not out of control silly, but not being particularly focused either. A few days before when we were doing tracting also, Elder Thompson was telling us about how all the time when you're contacting like this, you knock on a door and then one of the elders says something dumb, and then the person comes to their door with two boys who can't control themselves. Well... to be short, Elder Thompson did that at this door. Elder Thompson looked at Elder Mills (it was Elder Mills' turn to do the door) and gives a big ridiculous grin, and Elder Mills loses it. He's not just laughing but holding his gut because he's laughing so much and Elder Thompson is laughing at this point, too. Elder Mills knew he was laughing too much to do the door so he left and went down a little side hall where he couldn't be seen from the door and Elder Thompson followed him because he must have thought that no one was home (it had been about ten to fifteen seconds at this point) but I heard someone inside! So I stayed there and I'm trying not to laugh at this point too. Then the door opens, and I'm the only one there so I start the contact alone. A Mongolian boy comes to the door and spoke with me for a while. He was probably about 20 to 22 years old and didn't speak Czech very well. So here's a good combo - Elder Monk who's been speaking Czech for only two months, and then this guy who doesn't speak very well either. Hmm... anyway, I got his number and he said that we could come and meet him again some other time. Elder Thompson came back acting like he was talking on his phone so he could re-enter without seeming too awkward but he only ended up playing with the guy's dog while I finished up the contact. So that was interesting. We finished up the panlelak and left with a time to come and meet Od (the Asian guy's name) a few days later.
Then when we got out, we looked at our clocks and it was still a little early to go home, but it was also too late to be let into another panelak, so we decided to do some bus contacting. Before we got on the bus Elder Thompson said that we weren't getting off the bus until we got a number from someone even if we pass our stop. So, we get on the bus and split up. I went to the front and sat next to a guy and asked him if I could talk to him for a little bit. He looked at me like I was crazy and then turned so that his back was to me. Real nice... So I'm sitting there really awkwardly, trying to figure out what I should do next. Do I stand up and sit next to someone else and start over, or do I wait until he gets off the bus and then move to talk to someone else? I chose the second one. So I'm waiting to get to the stop and I see my next target. Someone sitting right across from me. This person looked interesting. Kinda weird, but looked nice enough that they'd talk with me. Also, the person kept glancing at me.
So we get to our stop and the guy gets off and I'm about to get up to go talk to this other person, but I hear a tapping on the glass behind me, so I look and it's Elder Thompson telling me to get off the bus. Yipee! we got a number! So I got off and he asked me if I got that guy's number and I said no. Turns out that neither did Elder Thompson or Mills. So they decide to make me get someone's number before we get home. Alrighty! I can do that. So break off from them as we're walking home, and I try to find a place that wouldn't be completely creepy if I contacted them there. I tried one guy, but the timing was wrong and it was where there were no lights, so he obviously thought I was going to try and rob him or something, and said "ne...NE." Oookay dude, don't need to yell at me. So I needed a more tactful place to contact. Why not another bus stop? They're well lit and people are just standing for their bus. Can do. So I get to the next one and there's not a lot of people there. Then someone caught the side of my eye coming around a tabák (tobacco and magazine stand) and I said that I'd contact that person. So I go up and say, "Zdravím" (Greetings) and the guy pulls out his headphones and started talking with me. Turns out that it was the same person who I was going to talk to on the other bus. (Oh my word... every time that I've wanted to write "bus" I've written "buss" and had to delete the extra s.) So I start talking with this guy, and quite seriously, I thought 'he' was a 'she' on the bus, and I still did, except he had a low voice. Still a femmy voice, but low. Kinda weird, but whatever: everyone deserves to hear about the gospel. So I get this guy's number because he was rushing to get on the bus. Awesome, I got a number and we can go home.
Then the next day, I got a text from him (Filip) and at the end he wrote his name "Fifa." Okay... all cool. This guy's awesome because I contacted him and he contacted me back because he wants to talk. But no.... "Fifa" keeps texting me and they get creepier and creepier. At one point he was freaking out because I was writing him back immediately. I hate texting, especially when they want to have a conversation. It's good for just sending little bits of information, but when you're having a conversation, I'd rather just talk. So I try calling "Fifa," but he freaks out and doesn't answer and then he texts me right after and says, "please only text me during the day, you can call me at night." What the heck is that about? Anyway, so I comply and only text. Finally at one point he asks if we can meet and I said, "sure, but I need to be with my friends because I'm here as a missionary as I've told you before and I'm not allowed to be alone." Then he freaks out about how I can't be alone and how he has so many feelings he needs to tell me and it was already getting really creepy at this point.
Then we had Zone Conference on Wednesday and I told President about it. He said that a couple other missionaries before have attracted girls and some even guys. He went on to tell me that I'm an attractive guy and to be careful. Thanks, President. Anyway, Fifa was getting way weird with me saying that he wants to only meet at night when people aren't around because he's ugly and stuff like this. I don't care what you look like, I'm a guy and you're a guy. This was getting way weird. I called him one night and finally just had a conversation with him and told him that I'm not allowed to be alone and that's because it's a rule for us as missionaries. He didn't like that too much, but there's nothing I can do about that, and personally I'm glad of it. We also got a meeting set up for Sunday night, which was yesterday, and all day yesterday I was really nervous that something weird and extremely awkward would happen. However, after the time that I called him on the phone he didn't text me at all. That was a strange relief. Anyway, the time came for us to meet Fifa. So we waited outside the church building for him and he didn't show up. So I called him, and he didn't pick up, so we went home.
I'm not quite sure what's going on right now, but I know that Elder Thompson and Mills are giving me a hard time because I've got a "boyfriend" here in Zlin who's going to investigate because he's interested... perhaps not in the gospel. Thanks, Elders. Anyway, I'm here to talk to everyone about the gospel-- not to discriminate.
'Nough of that. It's finally become clear and pretty around here. Ever since I arrived here in the Czech Republic, we've had gray skies, but this past week has been quite pretty. We'd have one day of blue skies and then one day of raining, and today it's sunny! Yay! I tried doing contacting a little bit differently on the naměstí (town square/city center). I go up to someone sitting on a bench and talk to them. It's gone really well. In one finding block when I was finding alone, I got two people's numbers and they've agreed to listen to what we have to say. One old lady asked me if we have a place that we meet and I told her where it was. Then she asked what time we meet and she said that she'd come sometime. She couldn't come yesterday because her husband's sick right now and she's taking care of him, but she said that she'd like to come sometime in the future. She also said that she could tell that I wasn't from here because I looked different. Many people here think that I'm part Mongolian. Oh well. Closer than people in America who think that I'm Mexican.
Anyway, my time is nearly up. This week's been awesome. We got four new investigators, and we have high hopes for the future. This week was difficult but each week is going to become harder and harder, but they'll be more and more rewarding as well. I love you all and know that if we push through the hard times, we'll see the blue skies at last.
Much love from the Czech Republic,
Starší Monk
How are all of you? Hope things are going well. Well, I've got a story for you guys. I'm feeling that it's going to be one of the ones that I tell after I get home from the mission. I'm not quite sure if it's done though... I'll let you know later.
Well, it started all the way from last week on Monday night. On P-days, we only get free time until 6:00 and then we have to work again. So, we had three meetings set up and we were going to have a full night of teaching, but throughout our P-day, they all canceled for one reason or another. That's no bother, we just went out and tracted the last half of a panelak (big communist "apartment" building) that we had done a few days before. This one was pretty large - thirteen floors with seven doors on each floor. We had gotten down to the seventh floor before so we decided to start there. So we're going door to door and having no success and so we keep going. Pretty good description of missionary work most of the time :P
Then we got down to the second floor and Elder Thompson and Mills were just being silly. Not out of control silly, but not being particularly focused either. A few days before when we were doing tracting also, Elder Thompson was telling us about how all the time when you're contacting like this, you knock on a door and then one of the elders says something dumb, and then the person comes to their door with two boys who can't control themselves. Well... to be short, Elder Thompson did that at this door. Elder Thompson looked at Elder Mills (it was Elder Mills' turn to do the door) and gives a big ridiculous grin, and Elder Mills loses it. He's not just laughing but holding his gut because he's laughing so much and Elder Thompson is laughing at this point, too. Elder Mills knew he was laughing too much to do the door so he left and went down a little side hall where he couldn't be seen from the door and Elder Thompson followed him because he must have thought that no one was home (it had been about ten to fifteen seconds at this point) but I heard someone inside! So I stayed there and I'm trying not to laugh at this point too. Then the door opens, and I'm the only one there so I start the contact alone. A Mongolian boy comes to the door and spoke with me for a while. He was probably about 20 to 22 years old and didn't speak Czech very well. So here's a good combo - Elder Monk who's been speaking Czech for only two months, and then this guy who doesn't speak very well either. Hmm... anyway, I got his number and he said that we could come and meet him again some other time. Elder Thompson came back acting like he was talking on his phone so he could re-enter without seeming too awkward but he only ended up playing with the guy's dog while I finished up the contact. So that was interesting. We finished up the panlelak and left with a time to come and meet Od (the Asian guy's name) a few days later.
Then when we got out, we looked at our clocks and it was still a little early to go home, but it was also too late to be let into another panelak, so we decided to do some bus contacting. Before we got on the bus Elder Thompson said that we weren't getting off the bus until we got a number from someone even if we pass our stop. So, we get on the bus and split up. I went to the front and sat next to a guy and asked him if I could talk to him for a little bit. He looked at me like I was crazy and then turned so that his back was to me. Real nice... So I'm sitting there really awkwardly, trying to figure out what I should do next. Do I stand up and sit next to someone else and start over, or do I wait until he gets off the bus and then move to talk to someone else? I chose the second one. So I'm waiting to get to the stop and I see my next target. Someone sitting right across from me. This person looked interesting. Kinda weird, but looked nice enough that they'd talk with me. Also, the person kept glancing at me.
So we get to our stop and the guy gets off and I'm about to get up to go talk to this other person, but I hear a tapping on the glass behind me, so I look and it's Elder Thompson telling me to get off the bus. Yipee! we got a number! So I got off and he asked me if I got that guy's number and I said no. Turns out that neither did Elder Thompson or Mills. So they decide to make me get someone's number before we get home. Alrighty! I can do that. So break off from them as we're walking home, and I try to find a place that wouldn't be completely creepy if I contacted them there. I tried one guy, but the timing was wrong and it was where there were no lights, so he obviously thought I was going to try and rob him or something, and said "ne...NE." Oookay dude, don't need to yell at me. So I needed a more tactful place to contact. Why not another bus stop? They're well lit and people are just standing for their bus. Can do. So I get to the next one and there's not a lot of people there. Then someone caught the side of my eye coming around a tabák (tobacco and magazine stand) and I said that I'd contact that person. So I go up and say, "Zdravím" (Greetings) and the guy pulls out his headphones and started talking with me. Turns out that it was the same person who I was going to talk to on the other bus. (Oh my word... every time that I've wanted to write "bus" I've written "buss" and had to delete the extra s.) So I start talking with this guy, and quite seriously, I thought 'he' was a 'she' on the bus, and I still did, except he had a low voice. Still a femmy voice, but low. Kinda weird, but whatever: everyone deserves to hear about the gospel. So I get this guy's number because he was rushing to get on the bus. Awesome, I got a number and we can go home.
Then the next day, I got a text from him (Filip) and at the end he wrote his name "Fifa." Okay... all cool. This guy's awesome because I contacted him and he contacted me back because he wants to talk. But no.... "Fifa" keeps texting me and they get creepier and creepier. At one point he was freaking out because I was writing him back immediately. I hate texting, especially when they want to have a conversation. It's good for just sending little bits of information, but when you're having a conversation, I'd rather just talk. So I try calling "Fifa," but he freaks out and doesn't answer and then he texts me right after and says, "please only text me during the day, you can call me at night." What the heck is that about? Anyway, so I comply and only text. Finally at one point he asks if we can meet and I said, "sure, but I need to be with my friends because I'm here as a missionary as I've told you before and I'm not allowed to be alone." Then he freaks out about how I can't be alone and how he has so many feelings he needs to tell me and it was already getting really creepy at this point.
Then we had Zone Conference on Wednesday and I told President about it. He said that a couple other missionaries before have attracted girls and some even guys. He went on to tell me that I'm an attractive guy and to be careful. Thanks, President. Anyway, Fifa was getting way weird with me saying that he wants to only meet at night when people aren't around because he's ugly and stuff like this. I don't care what you look like, I'm a guy and you're a guy. This was getting way weird. I called him one night and finally just had a conversation with him and told him that I'm not allowed to be alone and that's because it's a rule for us as missionaries. He didn't like that too much, but there's nothing I can do about that, and personally I'm glad of it. We also got a meeting set up for Sunday night, which was yesterday, and all day yesterday I was really nervous that something weird and extremely awkward would happen. However, after the time that I called him on the phone he didn't text me at all. That was a strange relief. Anyway, the time came for us to meet Fifa. So we waited outside the church building for him and he didn't show up. So I called him, and he didn't pick up, so we went home.
I'm not quite sure what's going on right now, but I know that Elder Thompson and Mills are giving me a hard time because I've got a "boyfriend" here in Zlin who's going to investigate because he's interested... perhaps not in the gospel. Thanks, Elders. Anyway, I'm here to talk to everyone about the gospel-- not to discriminate.
'Nough of that. It's finally become clear and pretty around here. Ever since I arrived here in the Czech Republic, we've had gray skies, but this past week has been quite pretty. We'd have one day of blue skies and then one day of raining, and today it's sunny! Yay! I tried doing contacting a little bit differently on the naměstí (town square/city center). I go up to someone sitting on a bench and talk to them. It's gone really well. In one finding block when I was finding alone, I got two people's numbers and they've agreed to listen to what we have to say. One old lady asked me if we have a place that we meet and I told her where it was. Then she asked what time we meet and she said that she'd come sometime. She couldn't come yesterday because her husband's sick right now and she's taking care of him, but she said that she'd like to come sometime in the future. She also said that she could tell that I wasn't from here because I looked different. Many people here think that I'm part Mongolian. Oh well. Closer than people in America who think that I'm Mexican.
Anyway, my time is nearly up. This week's been awesome. We got four new investigators, and we have high hopes for the future. This week was difficult but each week is going to become harder and harder, but they'll be more and more rewarding as well. I love you all and know that if we push through the hard times, we'll see the blue skies at last.
Much love from the Czech Republic,
Starší Monk
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