Right now, I cannot really remember anything from this past week. That is a little sad, but also it may be due to the fact that the computers here at this Internet cafe are driving me nuts and we just did service almost all day on about five hours of sleep.
The service was really fun. There is a man here in our branch who is from England and lives here. His wife is Czech and she has been following him around for the past howevermany years, and now she says that it is his turn to follow her around - so they live in a town about an hour and a half out of Plzen, but Plzen is the closest branch that they can come to. Anyway, he has served in the church before for some time and as part of his callings he has been ordained a high priest - one of the four in the Czech Republic. So, he has been talking to the missionaries for some time now about coming out to his house to do some service, which included digging up large areas for a garden (he has 10) and putting in manure for fertilizing. While Elder McGowan and Elder Rhodes worked on that, Elder Horvath and I went and worked on some other chores. We got to move a rock pile behind his garage so we could move some wood into that place so that we could rip up the brick pathway next to his house so he could have some people come in and use a trench digger to put in a pipe for something (not really sure what the pipe was for). Elder Horvath and I got those jobs done in about an hour and a half and then for the next few hours we went and worked on the garden with the other elders. By the end, my arms were feeling really weak. It is not that I was feeling tired or fatigued, but instead that I just could not pull the shovel out of the ground sometimes. It probably did not help that the ground was wet and damp because the past few days it has been raining and murky. Despite that, we were all really glad that we could get out and do some service finally! It just seems that no one wants help here. It is really strange sometimes that we do not have opportunities to serve, but I am really glad that we got to this day.
Also another thing this last week that was really cool was that we had a lesson with a lady named Beckova before our English class on Tuesday. She has been meeting with the missionaries for a while but it was my first time meeting her. So this time, I felt that the lesson went really well and that I really got to know where she stands as far as being baptized. I had been told that she already lives all the commandments that we tell her and she had already been living them even before we met her. For example: she hates drinking. She says that it is poison and that people here make up excuses to drink even though they know that it is bad for them. Half way through the meeting with her, Elder Rhodes had to go and take another meeting that we had, and so I stayed with Beckova and spoke with her some more. It seemed to go really well and I didn't feel that there was anything really special about it - except for the fact that she does not want to be baptized into our church even though she already knows that it is true. She loves our church and hates the Catholic church (the one that she is baptized in) - she just wants more time to know that it is the thing that she needs to do. That seems pretty understandable. Then at the end of the lesson she ran off to the tram just ten minutes before English class started. She said that she would be back. I went in and helped Elder Rhodes with the other lesson for a little bit and then after we finished with that one, Elder Rhodes told me that that lesson was probably the first time that Beckova had been completely understood in a long time because past missionaries who have met with her did not have the greatest language abilities. That was really cool. I told Elder Rhodes about the things that I learned and he said that he did not know those things, even though it seemed to me that she had already told the missionaries quite a few times.
Anyway, when she returned, she came back with two daughters of her good friend (they called her grandma) and left them there for English. The girls are right about our ages, 20 and 22, and Beckova talked about them - that they were very good girls and that they do not drink and other things that she knows are bad. I was in the other English class, so I did not get to know them very well, but they seemed very nice. I said "hi" after class, and got to know them a little bit. However, I think that Beckova was telling them strange things, like we are nice boys from America and that they should try and do something fun with us. So after English they invited us to a movie and were very disappointed when we told them that we could not go but that we would love to see them again at some of our other activities, like game night, and even "a private meeting with them where we would talk about Jesus Christ and our message of Him." They agreed to both, but we still have not met with them privately yet, but we will this week!
I am sorry that I do not really have any great stories this week, and I wish that I could at least remember some more but I left my planner at home, so I can not even look through that to see what we did! However, this last Sunday was amazing because I really came into the fast with a specific want of feeling the Holy Ghost and hearing his guidance more in my life and during the work. At Sacrament meeting, I really did feel that comfort and understanding that I did have that companionship of the Holy Ghost and I know that my fast was answered. I think what was different about this prayer from others was that I went in and I had an out loud prayer beforehand. Out loud prayers make all of the difference to me. When I pray quietly, I get distracted and I lose concentration, but when I pray out loud, I can hear the direction of the Holy Ghost so I can know what I need to pray for, and then as I say what he dictates to me, I can really make sure for me the blessings that God already is willing to give (Bible Dictionary "Prayer" p. 547? - I suggest reading this part on prayer because it has completely changed how I pray). God hears prayers, but when they are not answered, it is because we are praying out of the selfishness of our hearts and not to do the will of the Father but try to change the will of the Father. This is not possible! We must pray with the direction of the Holy Ghost for prayer to be the most effective. I have learned this after praying to the wall far too many times.
I love you all and challenge you to try praying with the direction of the Holy Ghost and I know that things will be different and that you will see a difference almost immediately,
Starší Monk