Here is a map showing the relative locations of Zlín and Olomouc. Monday, April 26, 2010
Well... First time moving cities, že?
Dear Family,
This week was pretty weird. Monday came around and I already told you about the whole transfer fax thing, but the next day was just weird having to wrap everything up, knowing that I wouldn't be there anymore. I'm not going to say that I'm one of those missionaries who thinks that the area won't do well or thrive after I leave, because I know that it will actually do better after I leave. :P
On Tuesday we packed up and got ready to go, but something weird happened this transfer. We've cut down on zones in the Czech Republic from four to three, and so there's been alot of switching around of responsibility and other things. Also, with the volcano in Iceland (or wherever it was) the greenies weren't going to be in until Thursday. So Elder Mills had to go to Prague to get a greenie but he had to wait an extra day, so I had to go to Olomouc a day late so that he wouldn't be alone too long. Gah... it was a big mess. Anyway, come Wednesday, we take Elder Thompson to the bus station in the morning so that he can get to Hradec Kralove by about noon and get to work and so Elder Mills and I had the day to ourselves pretty much. We went around doing little last minute things and at one point, Elder Mills called the sisters and spoke to them for a moment. Sister Hill was also going to Prague to get a greenie and she told Mills that she was going into Prague that night because everything the next day was sold out. So we started freaking out trying to figure what the heck we had to do. Elder Mills found a bus that would take him to Prauge and I found a train that would take me to Olomouc soon before his bus, and so we ran to the bus station so that we could buy his ticket. We only had about an hour to wrap everything up and get me to the train. We spent way too long there because the woman in front of us wouldn't stop asking questions to the lady behind the desk. Finally Elder Mills got his ticket and we ran back to the house. At the house I was basically already packed so I finished really fast, got all my stuff out the door and ran to the station, hoping that I'd make it. I had called Denisa already telling her that we had to leave that night and that we wouldn't be coming to game night like we had said the day before. Denisa wanted to come see me off because she hadn't really said good bye, so she tried running to the train station as well. We got there in time for the train but then Denisa called saying that she was on the namesti and that she probably wouldn't be able to make it to the train station, so we said good byes over the phone and that she knew that I'd do well in Olomouc.
So I had also called to tell the other elders in Olomouc that I'd be coming in around 8:30, which I thought I had remembered reading on one of the texts about the train times. So they said that that they'd put it on the plan to come and get me. Once I was on the train, Elder Mills gave me a hug and hopped off because he didn't want to come with. It was really weird feeling alone. Completely alone. I didn't even have a phone or keys. Felt kind of like I had no place to go, but in reality, that's all I had - to go to Olomouc. It was really strange. Anyway, I had alot of confusion with the ticket because the phone had told me that I only needed to change trains one time, but the ticket said I needed to change twice (once in Hulín and once in Přerov). That really confused me because before I got to either, I got to Otrokovice which was the last stop on the train I was on. So I got off and barely made it to the train that was heading to Přerov. The conductor was really mad at me because he waited a whole five seconds for me to get on with my two bags, violin case and backpack. One of my bags, however, was 84 pounds, the other was probably around 30-40 and my backpack was easily 15 or 20. I had a ton of weight. So I made it to that train and then I came to Hulín. So I got off and now I was even more confused because I had already gotten off the train twice. That's all the times I had to change, but I hadn't made it to Přerov. What's going on?! So I waited in Hulín and I walked down the stairs, through the tunnel under the tracks, up the stairs to the station and asked the lady there if there was a train to Olomouc, and she said that it'd be coming in about ten minutes. So I trucked my stuff down the stairs, back through the tunnel, and back up the stairs to wait for the train. By this time my arms wanted to fall off. Really. That one bag was a killer. So I sat there with not a single train in sight for a long while. A few people started showing up, so I started feeling better. When a train arrived, and the people started getting on, I asked one man if it was going to Olomouc and he said yes - straight there. He also told me that I'd have to change in Olomouc if I wanted to get to Prague. I didn't so it didn't matter to me. So got on the train, and there were booths on this train, so the hallways were really small and hard to get my baggage through, not to mention that I wanted to die at this point. Anyway, just a little down the hallway, there was a door open, and inside there were two girls sitting there and I asked them if I could sit with them. They said I could and so I started loading my stuff into the booth. They kind of looked at me like I was strange, but also like I was a chudak (poor fellow). We sat there in pretty good silence for a while and then one of the girls wanted to get off because her stop was coming up, and that kind of stirred conversation because I had all my stuff blocking the entry way and so I had to play some tangrams to get the stuff out of the way enough for her to get out. The other girl became really friendly after the other left and we started talking. She told me that she was only going to Olomouc for a singing gig at one of the Kostels and that she studied in Kroměříž. I told her that I'd follow her because I had no idea where I was going, and she kind of giggled at that.
Anyway, when we arrived in Olomouc, I got off the train and realized that it was only 7:00. I had told the other elders that I'd arrive at 8:30. So I got ready for the wait. I got off the train, and the girl helped me with the violin which was being a nuisance before. I thanked her for her help and I made the long slow walk to the main area of the train station. I was way thirsty when I sat down, but I didn't want to have to move my bags again to go to the vending machine to buy a coke or something, so I just endured it. I sat there for the hour and a half, and then I decided that it'd be easier for them to get me if I went outside. So I drug my stuff outside, and waited there for a while, probably ten minutes, and it was very cold, so I went inside again. I didn't feel like sitting so I went to the area next to the vending machine and got a coke finally and drank it really fast. I stood by my luggage, again because I didn't want to move it. Then this guy came up to me, asking for money, and I didn't want to deal with him, so I pulled the "I don't speak Czech" card, but he then switched over into English. So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted 500 Kč which is about $25, but I just told him that I didn't have that much and so I gave him a little bit of pocket change and told him that I had no more. He kept bothering me because, as I soon found out, he doesn't understand English super well. That's to be expected. Anyway, he started talking to me like I was his friend and he even hung around me because I was probably the only person who'd actually be nice to him. He tried giving me his headphones, and I said that I didn't want them. Then he tried giving me a vodaphone sim card, and I told him that I don't have a phone, which caught him pretty off guard, but it was true! Then he started asking me if I liked marijuana, and I told him no to that too. The guy was really quite interesting, but I just wanted to be left alone. Anyway, the zone leaders finally came at about 9:30 to get me and apologized because they were stuck at a dinner meeting with some members. They took my luggage so I didn't have to, which made me really glad.
They took me to my byt (apartment/flat) and it's huge. Maybe I'll give you guys pictures soon. Elder Kreitzer is borec (a stud - literally means gymnast). Basically, he speaks and understands Czech almost as good as I do right now, so that takes a little bit of stress off my shoulders. Anyway, I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'll talk more about this stuff next week.
Love you all, and hope you enjoyed this story of how I made my first move. Even though I got frustrated and had no clue of what I was doing, I know that the Lord was helping me get to the right place.
Love you all muches and pray for you always. Čao čao,
Starší Monk
This week was pretty weird. Monday came around and I already told you about the whole transfer fax thing, but the next day was just weird having to wrap everything up, knowing that I wouldn't be there anymore. I'm not going to say that I'm one of those missionaries who thinks that the area won't do well or thrive after I leave, because I know that it will actually do better after I leave. :P
On Tuesday we packed up and got ready to go, but something weird happened this transfer. We've cut down on zones in the Czech Republic from four to three, and so there's been alot of switching around of responsibility and other things. Also, with the volcano in Iceland (or wherever it was) the greenies weren't going to be in until Thursday. So Elder Mills had to go to Prague to get a greenie but he had to wait an extra day, so I had to go to Olomouc a day late so that he wouldn't be alone too long. Gah... it was a big mess. Anyway, come Wednesday, we take Elder Thompson to the bus station in the morning so that he can get to Hradec Kralove by about noon and get to work and so Elder Mills and I had the day to ourselves pretty much. We went around doing little last minute things and at one point, Elder Mills called the sisters and spoke to them for a moment. Sister Hill was also going to Prague to get a greenie and she told Mills that she was going into Prague that night because everything the next day was sold out. So we started freaking out trying to figure what the heck we had to do. Elder Mills found a bus that would take him to Prauge and I found a train that would take me to Olomouc soon before his bus, and so we ran to the bus station so that we could buy his ticket. We only had about an hour to wrap everything up and get me to the train. We spent way too long there because the woman in front of us wouldn't stop asking questions to the lady behind the desk. Finally Elder Mills got his ticket and we ran back to the house. At the house I was basically already packed so I finished really fast, got all my stuff out the door and ran to the station, hoping that I'd make it. I had called Denisa already telling her that we had to leave that night and that we wouldn't be coming to game night like we had said the day before. Denisa wanted to come see me off because she hadn't really said good bye, so she tried running to the train station as well. We got there in time for the train but then Denisa called saying that she was on the namesti and that she probably wouldn't be able to make it to the train station, so we said good byes over the phone and that she knew that I'd do well in Olomouc.
So I had also called to tell the other elders in Olomouc that I'd be coming in around 8:30, which I thought I had remembered reading on one of the texts about the train times. So they said that that they'd put it on the plan to come and get me. Once I was on the train, Elder Mills gave me a hug and hopped off because he didn't want to come with. It was really weird feeling alone. Completely alone. I didn't even have a phone or keys. Felt kind of like I had no place to go, but in reality, that's all I had - to go to Olomouc. It was really strange. Anyway, I had alot of confusion with the ticket because the phone had told me that I only needed to change trains one time, but the ticket said I needed to change twice (once in Hulín and once in Přerov). That really confused me because before I got to either, I got to Otrokovice which was the last stop on the train I was on. So I got off and barely made it to the train that was heading to Přerov. The conductor was really mad at me because he waited a whole five seconds for me to get on with my two bags, violin case and backpack. One of my bags, however, was 84 pounds, the other was probably around 30-40 and my backpack was easily 15 or 20. I had a ton of weight. So I made it to that train and then I came to Hulín. So I got off and now I was even more confused because I had already gotten off the train twice. That's all the times I had to change, but I hadn't made it to Přerov. What's going on?! So I waited in Hulín and I walked down the stairs, through the tunnel under the tracks, up the stairs to the station and asked the lady there if there was a train to Olomouc, and she said that it'd be coming in about ten minutes. So I trucked my stuff down the stairs, back through the tunnel, and back up the stairs to wait for the train. By this time my arms wanted to fall off. Really. That one bag was a killer. So I sat there with not a single train in sight for a long while. A few people started showing up, so I started feeling better. When a train arrived, and the people started getting on, I asked one man if it was going to Olomouc and he said yes - straight there. He also told me that I'd have to change in Olomouc if I wanted to get to Prague. I didn't so it didn't matter to me. So got on the train, and there were booths on this train, so the hallways were really small and hard to get my baggage through, not to mention that I wanted to die at this point. Anyway, just a little down the hallway, there was a door open, and inside there were two girls sitting there and I asked them if I could sit with them. They said I could and so I started loading my stuff into the booth. They kind of looked at me like I was strange, but also like I was a chudak (poor fellow). We sat there in pretty good silence for a while and then one of the girls wanted to get off because her stop was coming up, and that kind of stirred conversation because I had all my stuff blocking the entry way and so I had to play some tangrams to get the stuff out of the way enough for her to get out. The other girl became really friendly after the other left and we started talking. She told me that she was only going to Olomouc for a singing gig at one of the Kostels and that she studied in Kroměříž. I told her that I'd follow her because I had no idea where I was going, and she kind of giggled at that.
Anyway, when we arrived in Olomouc, I got off the train and realized that it was only 7:00. I had told the other elders that I'd arrive at 8:30. So I got ready for the wait. I got off the train, and the girl helped me with the violin which was being a nuisance before. I thanked her for her help and I made the long slow walk to the main area of the train station. I was way thirsty when I sat down, but I didn't want to have to move my bags again to go to the vending machine to buy a coke or something, so I just endured it. I sat there for the hour and a half, and then I decided that it'd be easier for them to get me if I went outside. So I drug my stuff outside, and waited there for a while, probably ten minutes, and it was very cold, so I went inside again. I didn't feel like sitting so I went to the area next to the vending machine and got a coke finally and drank it really fast. I stood by my luggage, again because I didn't want to move it. Then this guy came up to me, asking for money, and I didn't want to deal with him, so I pulled the "I don't speak Czech" card, but he then switched over into English. So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted 500 Kč which is about $25, but I just told him that I didn't have that much and so I gave him a little bit of pocket change and told him that I had no more. He kept bothering me because, as I soon found out, he doesn't understand English super well. That's to be expected. Anyway, he started talking to me like I was his friend and he even hung around me because I was probably the only person who'd actually be nice to him. He tried giving me his headphones, and I said that I didn't want them. Then he tried giving me a vodaphone sim card, and I told him that I don't have a phone, which caught him pretty off guard, but it was true! Then he started asking me if I liked marijuana, and I told him no to that too. The guy was really quite interesting, but I just wanted to be left alone. Anyway, the zone leaders finally came at about 9:30 to get me and apologized because they were stuck at a dinner meeting with some members. They took my luggage so I didn't have to, which made me really glad.
They took me to my byt (apartment/flat) and it's huge. Maybe I'll give you guys pictures soon. Elder Kreitzer is borec (a stud - literally means gymnast). Basically, he speaks and understands Czech almost as good as I do right now, so that takes a little bit of stress off my shoulders. Anyway, I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'll talk more about this stuff next week.
Love you all, and hope you enjoyed this story of how I made my first move. Even though I got frustrated and had no clue of what I was doing, I know that the Lord was helping me get to the right place.
Love you all muches and pray for you always. Čao čao,
Starší Monk
Monday, April 19, 2010
Transfers Week!
Dear Family,
All's well here in the Old Zlíner. I'm happy and my companions are happy as well, however our time together is coming to an end. Oh no! Just when we've started getting comfortable with each other. What a shame, but we need to go to our other places of service. I'll tell you about that a little bit later, but I want to share a few experiences that we had this past week.
So the first one was on Friday when we were at the Blue Café to see Denisa at work. Of course being a Friday, it was very busy but we decided that it didn't matter and that we'd be able to speak with her at least a little bit - also, she likes to see us because she doesn't really have friends with the kinds of people that come to the bar. So we came in, and almost immediately we stood out. Duh, we're wearing suits. Anyway, one guy who was sitting at the bar, probably in his mid to upper twenties, pretty big guy, probably around six foot three or four, and 220-230 pounds of muscle points me out and asks me who we were and what we were doing. I couldn't really understand him because he was pretty drunk. I try and put him off by not really looking or paying attention to him, but he kept beckoning me over to him, so I went over and he read my tag, and was very friendly. Luckily he was a happy drunk. There are lots of those in the Czech Republic. Maybe someday I'll tell you all about the different kinds of drunks I've run into here in the Czech Republic.
So we sat down at the bar, I didn't really want to talk to him, so I grabbed a stool and sat at the opposite end of the bar from him. I sat there for a little while, but he's still trying to talk to me. And then he insisted that I come and sit two stools down from him, on the other side of my companions. Between me and him was a girl, who is at the bar pretty often and who I've seen a few times before, but hadn't really spoken with. Anyway, he starts talking with me, and I'm being as nice as possible, and basically that means I was just holding conversation, laughing with him, and trying to speak as much as possible to practice my Czech. Why not get some good language practice out of it? This proved to be really difficult because he was really drunk and he'd drop whole syllables all the time. Probably half the time the girl would turn to me and translate for me from Drunk to Czech. He introduced himself to me as Čuky (Chucky) and he shook my hand which was basically him squeezing my hand and looking at me as if to say "Squeeze back. I want to see if I can beat you even if I'm drunk." I did and he was pretty impressed with me. He became my "friend" and he kept offering me his wine and his cigarettes. I'd keep turning them down and he'd ask me why I didn't drink. I'd just tell him that I didn't want to and that I probably wouldn't like the taste. At one point he said, pointing to his shirt, "Znaš MotorHead?" (Are you familiar with MotorHead?) I said "ano" because I was and then he got a big smile on his face and offered me his wine again. I turned it down and then he asked me another question. I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I said, "Ne" and he looked a little dejected, but offered me his wine another time! He was pretty insistent on trying to get me to drink his wine. Then he ordered a double shot of cognac and a shot of bourbon and put them both into the wine glass and then offered it to me again! This guy was really giving, but didn't realize that I didn't want to drink it.
He was a really nice guy. I found out that he works at a bar and that he had work the next morning at 5:30, and I knew that he wouldn't be out of it by the time he'd have to work again, but that's his problem. Anyway, then our girlie friend left because she had to go sleep before work the next day, and then he moved over into her stool so he was closer to me. He started asking me about girls and if I had a Czech girl yet. By the way, everyone asks this - the old men and women, the middle aged men and women, the teenage guys, but thank goodness not the teenage girls too. It seems that the older Czech people always ask it the same way, "Libi se vám naše holky?" (Do you like our girls?) What do you say to that? I just kind of try to finagle my way out of those questions. Anyway, back to Chucky. He was asking me if I liked the girls and if I had one yet. I said no, and then he got the idea that he had to explain to me that the girls here and the ones in America are the same. That got way awkward, but I didn't know how to stop him without offending him - I have no idea how drunk people act. So he started nudging me with his knee trying to get me to look at one girl in the bar, and I kept ignoring him saying, no I won't look! Then his friend came over, who was also drunk, and wanted me to come and sit with them at the table so that they could talk with me. This guy's friend decided to give me a history lesson about how the Vikings found America way before Columbus. Then he had me tell them about Columbus. This lesson took about fifteen minutes and I was having a really hard time understanding, but I was understanding. Anyway, they were way funny and I learned that I can even understand drunk Czechs when I'm paying enough attention!
Then the other story is about Alena, one of our really strong investigators. We've been having good lesson after good lesson and she's making lots of progress. It's a little bit of a shame that I have to leave and just hope that she continues making progress. I know that she will and I'm looking forward to the phone call from Elder Mills telling me that she got baptized. Anyway, we invited her to church this last Friday, and she got really excited and accepted the invitation. She asked if she had to wear anything in particular, and she asked what kinds of things would happen there. We answered all her questions and we knew that she'd be there at church on Sunday because she's really committed and solid when she says she'll be there. So Sunday rolls around and we're really excited to see her come. But the meeting started, and she didn't come. She didn't even come late. So church ended and we sent her a text to see where she was and ask what happened. She said that she came right at 9:00 like we said, and she even waited a whole hour for us. She said that no one was there except for one person who was getting christened. We were like, "What? Christened?" We found out that she had gone to one of the Catholic cathedrals. We've been meeting with her in our meeting house and figured that she knew that we'd be meeting there for chruch. Anyway, it was a simple misunderstanding, so we are very sure that she'll be coming to church next week, and we know that she'll have a great time there.
Now, for the news that you've been waiting for. Next transfer I'm going to be moving north to Olomouc and am going to be follow-up training Elder Kreitzer. I just finished being follow-up trained myself, so I am very afraid of this next transfer. But he's also a very smart and solid missionary, so I'm sure that he will help me a lot and that the new city will give me some new energy for the work. I am very excited to go into this next transfer, and President has very high hopes for me. I just hope that I can keep up with this new elder.
Anyway, I love you all and hope that you enjoyed these few little experiences that I've had this past week. I love you all very much and look forward to hearing from you all again.
Starší Monk
All's well here in the Old Zlíner. I'm happy and my companions are happy as well, however our time together is coming to an end. Oh no! Just when we've started getting comfortable with each other. What a shame, but we need to go to our other places of service. I'll tell you about that a little bit later, but I want to share a few experiences that we had this past week.
So the first one was on Friday when we were at the Blue Café to see Denisa at work. Of course being a Friday, it was very busy but we decided that it didn't matter and that we'd be able to speak with her at least a little bit - also, she likes to see us because she doesn't really have friends with the kinds of people that come to the bar. So we came in, and almost immediately we stood out. Duh, we're wearing suits. Anyway, one guy who was sitting at the bar, probably in his mid to upper twenties, pretty big guy, probably around six foot three or four, and 220-230 pounds of muscle points me out and asks me who we were and what we were doing. I couldn't really understand him because he was pretty drunk. I try and put him off by not really looking or paying attention to him, but he kept beckoning me over to him, so I went over and he read my tag, and was very friendly. Luckily he was a happy drunk. There are lots of those in the Czech Republic. Maybe someday I'll tell you all about the different kinds of drunks I've run into here in the Czech Republic.
So we sat down at the bar, I didn't really want to talk to him, so I grabbed a stool and sat at the opposite end of the bar from him. I sat there for a little while, but he's still trying to talk to me. And then he insisted that I come and sit two stools down from him, on the other side of my companions. Between me and him was a girl, who is at the bar pretty often and who I've seen a few times before, but hadn't really spoken with. Anyway, he starts talking with me, and I'm being as nice as possible, and basically that means I was just holding conversation, laughing with him, and trying to speak as much as possible to practice my Czech. Why not get some good language practice out of it? This proved to be really difficult because he was really drunk and he'd drop whole syllables all the time. Probably half the time the girl would turn to me and translate for me from Drunk to Czech. He introduced himself to me as Čuky (Chucky) and he shook my hand which was basically him squeezing my hand and looking at me as if to say "Squeeze back. I want to see if I can beat you even if I'm drunk." I did and he was pretty impressed with me. He became my "friend" and he kept offering me his wine and his cigarettes. I'd keep turning them down and he'd ask me why I didn't drink. I'd just tell him that I didn't want to and that I probably wouldn't like the taste. At one point he said, pointing to his shirt, "Znaš MotorHead?" (Are you familiar with MotorHead?) I said "ano" because I was and then he got a big smile on his face and offered me his wine again. I turned it down and then he asked me another question. I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I said, "Ne" and he looked a little dejected, but offered me his wine another time! He was pretty insistent on trying to get me to drink his wine. Then he ordered a double shot of cognac and a shot of bourbon and put them both into the wine glass and then offered it to me again! This guy was really giving, but didn't realize that I didn't want to drink it.
He was a really nice guy. I found out that he works at a bar and that he had work the next morning at 5:30, and I knew that he wouldn't be out of it by the time he'd have to work again, but that's his problem. Anyway, then our girlie friend left because she had to go sleep before work the next day, and then he moved over into her stool so he was closer to me. He started asking me about girls and if I had a Czech girl yet. By the way, everyone asks this - the old men and women, the middle aged men and women, the teenage guys, but thank goodness not the teenage girls too. It seems that the older Czech people always ask it the same way, "Libi se vám naše holky?" (Do you like our girls?) What do you say to that? I just kind of try to finagle my way out of those questions. Anyway, back to Chucky. He was asking me if I liked the girls and if I had one yet. I said no, and then he got the idea that he had to explain to me that the girls here and the ones in America are the same. That got way awkward, but I didn't know how to stop him without offending him - I have no idea how drunk people act. So he started nudging me with his knee trying to get me to look at one girl in the bar, and I kept ignoring him saying, no I won't look! Then his friend came over, who was also drunk, and wanted me to come and sit with them at the table so that they could talk with me. This guy's friend decided to give me a history lesson about how the Vikings found America way before Columbus. Then he had me tell them about Columbus. This lesson took about fifteen minutes and I was having a really hard time understanding, but I was understanding. Anyway, they were way funny and I learned that I can even understand drunk Czechs when I'm paying enough attention!
Then the other story is about Alena, one of our really strong investigators. We've been having good lesson after good lesson and she's making lots of progress. It's a little bit of a shame that I have to leave and just hope that she continues making progress. I know that she will and I'm looking forward to the phone call from Elder Mills telling me that she got baptized. Anyway, we invited her to church this last Friday, and she got really excited and accepted the invitation. She asked if she had to wear anything in particular, and she asked what kinds of things would happen there. We answered all her questions and we knew that she'd be there at church on Sunday because she's really committed and solid when she says she'll be there. So Sunday rolls around and we're really excited to see her come. But the meeting started, and she didn't come. She didn't even come late. So church ended and we sent her a text to see where she was and ask what happened. She said that she came right at 9:00 like we said, and she even waited a whole hour for us. She said that no one was there except for one person who was getting christened. We were like, "What? Christened?" We found out that she had gone to one of the Catholic cathedrals. We've been meeting with her in our meeting house and figured that she knew that we'd be meeting there for chruch. Anyway, it was a simple misunderstanding, so we are very sure that she'll be coming to church next week, and we know that she'll have a great time there.
Now, for the news that you've been waiting for. Next transfer I'm going to be moving north to Olomouc and am going to be follow-up training Elder Kreitzer. I just finished being follow-up trained myself, so I am very afraid of this next transfer. But he's also a very smart and solid missionary, so I'm sure that he will help me a lot and that the new city will give me some new energy for the work. I am very excited to go into this next transfer, and President has very high hopes for me. I just hope that I can keep up with this new elder.
Anyway, I love you all and hope that you enjoyed these few little experiences that I've had this past week. I love you all very much and look forward to hearing from you all again.
Starší Monk
Monday, April 12, 2010
Mission-Wide Humility?
Dear Family,
Well, this was an interesting week. It seems that I just seem to have interesting week after interesting week. There's never a dull moment in missionary work, I guess. That's good. That way I won't really get all that bored, hopefully. The weather hasn't been completely idealistic this week, so people haven't been completely willing to be outside and while they're outside, they just want to get somewhere. I might say that it's even worse than Christmas-time because then at least they expect to be having cold/bad weather. Now, they just want to have good weather and then get grouchy and unhappy when they don't have it. Makes sense right? Does to me at least.
So this week we took a look at the investigators that we have and realized that we only have three or four. That's a little bit sad but all of them are making progress. We have a few other people that we meet, but they're not really investigators. First off we have Hoang, and he's making progress. He meets with us whenever we ask, as long as it's not during his work or school time. He's also reading from the Book of Mormon every day. If he ever has a good, solid spiritual experience, I'm pretty sure that he'll become golden. We're already looking at giving him a baptismal commitment, but he hasn't been to church yet, so we're waiting for that first. I'll ask him to come to this next Sunday. It should be good. Then we have Alena, and she's just awesome. Two meetings ago, she wanted to have it be her last because the meeting before wasn't completely smooth - she got kind of confused about a few things and thought that we were just another church trying to get money, but we had a member there who explained things and then she started seeing clearly and she really understood. We were extremely happy about that. Also, even though she didn't want to meet us any more, she read what we wanted her to read from the Book of Mormon, and then read two chapters extra! How is it that she's so awesome? Then this last meeting she met with us and told us that she's not afraid of the future; she's realized that from everything bad that happens, good things also happen. She said, for example, she had a boyfriend she had been dating for six years and then she broke up with him, but if she hadn't broken up with him, she wouldn't have met us! She also likes how we don't force her into anything. She's also already started sharing what we've told her about with her mother! That's awesome. Gah, she's so cool. She's still not as cool as Denisa - that's a hard act to follow - but she's pretty awesome.
Anyway, the whole "Mission-Wide Humility?" thing is about this: our entire mission is having a hard time with finding people and keeping them. Everyone's doing good with new investigators, recent converts and lessons, but we don't seem to be finding anyone that's progressing. This transfer "kills off" most of the last experienced missionaries like Elder Hatch, Mittanck, Willams, Boles, Hadzik and a bunch of others. The mission is about to get very young, very fast. One thing that President said is that these missionaries who are dying remember the times when we were only teaching about five to ten lessons a week on average. The new groups coming in, me included, don't know these kinds of things. We have come in teaching like twenty or even twenty-five lessons a week. Last night Elders Mills, Thompson and I talked about this and came to the conclusion that the Lord is humbling us so that we will know that the work is futile without him and that hard times are possible. Also to teach us to persevere through the hard times. I'm having a really hard time working at finding all day and not really finding anyone. It's tough, but I know that the Lord is here with us, and that he's showing it to me in small ways every day - sometimes even big ways.
This work is amazing and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I can already see that I'm going to be one of those missionaries who doesn't want to go home at the end of their mission and once he does, he doesn't speak English any more. My English, I can already tell, is going downhill. Get ready everybody! I won't speak English in two years, so you need to reteach me. Haha. That'll be exciting.
Anyway, I'm out of time and I hope that you're all doing well. Love you all muches; I'd like to be home at times, but I know that my time and energy is better spent here in the Czech Republic, even though a lot of the time the people don't seem very interested. Kind of like the story of Soddom and Gomorrah: the Lord would not destroy the cities if even a few righteous people were there. Well... He did destroy those cities, but these are not! The righteous are here and we just have to go out and find them!
Starší Monk
Well, this was an interesting week. It seems that I just seem to have interesting week after interesting week. There's never a dull moment in missionary work, I guess. That's good. That way I won't really get all that bored, hopefully. The weather hasn't been completely idealistic this week, so people haven't been completely willing to be outside and while they're outside, they just want to get somewhere. I might say that it's even worse than Christmas-time because then at least they expect to be having cold/bad weather. Now, they just want to have good weather and then get grouchy and unhappy when they don't have it. Makes sense right? Does to me at least.
So this week we took a look at the investigators that we have and realized that we only have three or four. That's a little bit sad but all of them are making progress. We have a few other people that we meet, but they're not really investigators. First off we have Hoang, and he's making progress. He meets with us whenever we ask, as long as it's not during his work or school time. He's also reading from the Book of Mormon every day. If he ever has a good, solid spiritual experience, I'm pretty sure that he'll become golden. We're already looking at giving him a baptismal commitment, but he hasn't been to church yet, so we're waiting for that first. I'll ask him to come to this next Sunday. It should be good. Then we have Alena, and she's just awesome. Two meetings ago, she wanted to have it be her last because the meeting before wasn't completely smooth - she got kind of confused about a few things and thought that we were just another church trying to get money, but we had a member there who explained things and then she started seeing clearly and she really understood. We were extremely happy about that. Also, even though she didn't want to meet us any more, she read what we wanted her to read from the Book of Mormon, and then read two chapters extra! How is it that she's so awesome? Then this last meeting she met with us and told us that she's not afraid of the future; she's realized that from everything bad that happens, good things also happen. She said, for example, she had a boyfriend she had been dating for six years and then she broke up with him, but if she hadn't broken up with him, she wouldn't have met us! She also likes how we don't force her into anything. She's also already started sharing what we've told her about with her mother! That's awesome. Gah, she's so cool. She's still not as cool as Denisa - that's a hard act to follow - but she's pretty awesome.
Anyway, the whole "Mission-Wide Humility?" thing is about this: our entire mission is having a hard time with finding people and keeping them. Everyone's doing good with new investigators, recent converts and lessons, but we don't seem to be finding anyone that's progressing. This transfer "kills off" most of the last experienced missionaries like Elder Hatch, Mittanck, Willams, Boles, Hadzik and a bunch of others. The mission is about to get very young, very fast. One thing that President said is that these missionaries who are dying remember the times when we were only teaching about five to ten lessons a week on average. The new groups coming in, me included, don't know these kinds of things. We have come in teaching like twenty or even twenty-five lessons a week. Last night Elders Mills, Thompson and I talked about this and came to the conclusion that the Lord is humbling us so that we will know that the work is futile without him and that hard times are possible. Also to teach us to persevere through the hard times. I'm having a really hard time working at finding all day and not really finding anyone. It's tough, but I know that the Lord is here with us, and that he's showing it to me in small ways every day - sometimes even big ways.
This work is amazing and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I can already see that I'm going to be one of those missionaries who doesn't want to go home at the end of their mission and once he does, he doesn't speak English any more. My English, I can already tell, is going downhill. Get ready everybody! I won't speak English in two years, so you need to reteach me. Haha. That'll be exciting.
Anyway, I'm out of time and I hope that you're all doing well. Love you all muches; I'd like to be home at times, but I know that my time and energy is better spent here in the Czech Republic, even though a lot of the time the people don't seem very interested. Kind of like the story of Soddom and Gomorrah: the Lord would not destroy the cities if even a few righteous people were there. Well... He did destroy those cities, but these are not! The righteous are here and we just have to go out and find them!
Starší Monk
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Velikonoce!
Dear Family,
How is everyone doing this week? I'm doing great and I'm way happy right now. :D
Anyway, yesterday was a little bit depressing. It was all rainy and that kind of killed the whole pagan side of the Velikonoce holiday. Let me tell you about this pagan holiday. So, on Velikonoce (Easter - called Velikonoce because it's a smashed form of Velké Noc which means "long night" - the three days of darkness after the death of Christ) the guys have these little whip things which are made from braided willow branches. The willows are budding and blooming about this time and so they're very supple and easy to braid. Anyway, the guys take these little whip things and then they go around whipping the girls while saying this little song which basically says, "give me painted eggs, if not painted eggs, then white ones, and if not that then give me something sweet." Sometimes girls will give guys money so that they can go out and buy themselves some beer. (Speaking of beer, we went to eat lunch today with the sisters from Uherské Hradiště and saw that beer was actually cheaper than a soft drink by 33%. Isn't that rediculous?) The reason that the guys whip the girls is because the vitality from the branches is supposed to be given to the women by whipping them. I guess they want their girls to be more vital and fertile.
Our Velikonoce wasn't as fun because it rained all day and everything was closed. Something strange that I've noticed about the Czech Republic is that they used to be a very religious country until communism came in and destroyed all their hope of there being a God and religion being needful. Communism really ruined this country. Like, everywhere you'll find remnants of Christianity in their traditions or what they do for holidays, but they will not believe in the religious side of the things. Easter for instance: everyone closes their shops on Easter so that they can be with their families. They have lots and lots of Kostels (Cathedrals). They have random statues of Pani Maria (the Virgin Mary) everywhere. Just many, many little things. I don't get it. Actually I do, and I think it's terrible what has happened to these people.
Anyway, back to yesterday. The sisters from Uherské Hradiště came down to Zlín and we spent the day together. It's also Starší Mill's birthday today, and Denisa's on the 13th, so we had a joint birthday party yesterday where we were going to go to the zoo and then go to Denisa's house for lunch, but the busses weren't going to the zoo often enough, because it was Easter, and it was also raining. So we ended up going bowling. Bowling was open. One of the four things I'm sure that were open. Anyway, after bowling we went to Denisa's house and she fed us all Svičkova which was delicious. I didn't really like it my first couple times in the country, because it has this weird vegetable sauce that tastes kind of funky, but I'm liking it more and more.
We whipped Denisa yesterday and then the sisters today. We were supposed to whip the sisters yesterday, but we were all feeling kind of awkward about it. The rule is that if someone whips a girl after noon, she can poor water on him. So, we should have been soaked by the sisters, but they love us and didn't. Instead they gave us chocolate! Yipee!
So, that was our Velikonoce extravaganza (I'm sure that's spelled wrong. I can't spell anymore - everything gets spelled "Czechly" every now and then). We had a really good time and I hope that you're all doing well.
I love you all and know that our Savior Jesus Christ also loves us very much. I've grown so much closer to him these past few days, and have been realizing how much improvement and help I need from Him. Don't stop learning about yourselves because the more that you do, the more you realize that we need the Lord. That's something that I've learned this past transfer.
Love you muches, have youreslves well (Mějte se),
Starší Monk
PS - I have not seen conference yet. I'm going to watch it this weekend.
PPS - For Suzie, I'm sure you kind of recognize this Easter tradition is very much like the Roman one where the men go around whipping the women while they're naked the day after they've prayed to Venus so that they get the man that they want. Yes, I realized this a little after I thought about why it sounded familiar.
How is everyone doing this week? I'm doing great and I'm way happy right now. :D
Anyway, yesterday was a little bit depressing. It was all rainy and that kind of killed the whole pagan side of the Velikonoce holiday. Let me tell you about this pagan holiday. So, on Velikonoce (Easter - called Velikonoce because it's a smashed form of Velké Noc which means "long night" - the three days of darkness after the death of Christ) the guys have these little whip things which are made from braided willow branches. The willows are budding and blooming about this time and so they're very supple and easy to braid. Anyway, the guys take these little whip things and then they go around whipping the girls while saying this little song which basically says, "give me painted eggs, if not painted eggs, then white ones, and if not that then give me something sweet." Sometimes girls will give guys money so that they can go out and buy themselves some beer. (Speaking of beer, we went to eat lunch today with the sisters from Uherské Hradiště and saw that beer was actually cheaper than a soft drink by 33%. Isn't that rediculous?) The reason that the guys whip the girls is because the vitality from the branches is supposed to be given to the women by whipping them. I guess they want their girls to be more vital and fertile.
Our Velikonoce wasn't as fun because it rained all day and everything was closed. Something strange that I've noticed about the Czech Republic is that they used to be a very religious country until communism came in and destroyed all their hope of there being a God and religion being needful. Communism really ruined this country. Like, everywhere you'll find remnants of Christianity in their traditions or what they do for holidays, but they will not believe in the religious side of the things. Easter for instance: everyone closes their shops on Easter so that they can be with their families. They have lots and lots of Kostels (Cathedrals). They have random statues of Pani Maria (the Virgin Mary) everywhere. Just many, many little things. I don't get it. Actually I do, and I think it's terrible what has happened to these people.
Anyway, back to yesterday. The sisters from Uherské Hradiště came down to Zlín and we spent the day together. It's also Starší Mill's birthday today, and Denisa's on the 13th, so we had a joint birthday party yesterday where we were going to go to the zoo and then go to Denisa's house for lunch, but the busses weren't going to the zoo often enough, because it was Easter, and it was also raining. So we ended up going bowling. Bowling was open. One of the four things I'm sure that were open. Anyway, after bowling we went to Denisa's house and she fed us all Svičkova which was delicious. I didn't really like it my first couple times in the country, because it has this weird vegetable sauce that tastes kind of funky, but I'm liking it more and more.
We whipped Denisa yesterday and then the sisters today. We were supposed to whip the sisters yesterday, but we were all feeling kind of awkward about it. The rule is that if someone whips a girl after noon, she can poor water on him. So, we should have been soaked by the sisters, but they love us and didn't. Instead they gave us chocolate! Yipee!
So, that was our Velikonoce extravaganza (I'm sure that's spelled wrong. I can't spell anymore - everything gets spelled "Czechly" every now and then). We had a really good time and I hope that you're all doing well.
I love you all and know that our Savior Jesus Christ also loves us very much. I've grown so much closer to him these past few days, and have been realizing how much improvement and help I need from Him. Don't stop learning about yourselves because the more that you do, the more you realize that we need the Lord. That's something that I've learned this past transfer.
Love you muches, have youreslves well (Mějte se),
Starší Monk
PS - I have not seen conference yet. I'm going to watch it this weekend.
PPS - For Suzie, I'm sure you kind of recognize this Easter tradition is very much like the Roman one where the men go around whipping the women while they're naked the day after they've prayed to Venus so that they get the man that they want. Yes, I realized this a little after I thought about why it sounded familiar.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Won't be writing this Monday
Dear Family,
How is everyone? I'm just writing today to say that I won't be writing on Monday because here in the Czech Republic Monday is Easter Holiday and the Internet cafe that we use to is going to be closed. So I'll be writing on Tuesday and I'll tell you all about my Easter Whipping Fun!
Love you all,
Starší Monk
How is everyone? I'm just writing today to say that I won't be writing on Monday because here in the Czech Republic Monday is Easter Holiday and the Internet cafe that we use to is going to be closed. So I'll be writing on Tuesday and I'll tell you all about my Easter Whipping Fun!
Love you all,
Starší Monk
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