Monday, June 29, 2009

A couple of new photos

Here are a couple of photos of Brent.


Brent touring a mine



Brent teaching English

Rainy Ostrava (Week 12 in Ostrava)


Hello Everyone,
 
So, this week has been an interesting one. It's still raining (we did get a few hours of sunshine on wednesday, if I remember correctly, but that was followed by a freak storm that flooded the streets in a few minutes) here in Ostrava, and Moravia is starting to sink. At least, that's what some people have been saying. Ostrava is in pretty good shape, but there are places where houses are completely gone in the countryside. Apparently some places have been tsunami like, which is kind of odd given that we're landlocked in this part of the world. Either way, rest assured: Elder Anderson is alright. My shoes are polished and waterproof, I got a new umbrella, and I live on the third floor. That, and ostrava is built on a really great drainage system. It'll take a lot more than constant rain/downpour for a few weeks to get us down.
 
Unfortunately, it doesn't take a whole lot of rain to get people from coming out. Combined with a desire to head out on summer break, and suddenly our teaching pool is starting to look as muddy as the river. Funny how that works out. Even still, we had a great Zone conference on saturday. Zone Conference is kind of like flying back home for a few hours, spending some time at the MTC to get your bearings on things and reset your vision, and then you get back home and realize you've got a lot of work to get done in order to meet the new standards. Obedience standards are up, expectations to speak Czech are now up to 80 hours/week (dreaming in czech doesn't count there, either), and music now has to be 100% sacrament meeting appropriate (which, ironically, nixes my Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD's a bit - their Tribute to America has some country style hoedown beats which don't meet that standard), among other things.
 
This week is going to be full of finding. Despite the rainy weather, it shouldn't be to hard to get people to our church building and watch some rainy day films like "The Restoration" or "The Lamb of God". Both are pretty good - if you haven't seen them, I can refer you to some english speaking missionaries back home and they can get you copies.
 
Actually, we had a really great street display on Wednesday. That is to say, it would have been great, but it was raining and a rock concert randomly set up on the main namesti the night before, along with all these street vendors that aren't usually there. So, we went to a smaller park and got a few contacts there. Next time it will be much better. I understand that many of you have been hearing us sing on Facebook thanks to Sister Ivanova. She's absolutely great, if you couldn't tell. And we've also been blessed with a very musically talented district, too. We're making good use of it as we go out singing and finding.
 
Apart from all that and a few neat finding stories (like running into a man who said he wanted to be baptized into OUR church, but no one had told him anything about it yet; he was in a hurry, so we're meeting with him again later this week), this week wasn't as full as it could have been. We've regrouped over the weekend with conference and planning, and if this next week isn't the best week of my mission I'm probably going to have to buy myself a Kofola (Like Coke but better and licorice flavored) and try again next week.
 
Attached are some photos I received from a member. Some are old, some are new, and some I've never seen before. Also, the recipe contest is still open (Even though I don't have any prizes for the best recipes). We really are looking for good ideas for cooking, so send my parents your ideas and they'll forward them on to me.
 
Some of you have asked about the language in your letters (which, I did get - thanks to all my grandparents, my parents, Trevor Johnston, Christie, Kat, and Kayla), and I have to simply say that God makes us into what he needs of us. There's a really neat verse in Exodus where Moses says he's not the best speaker and he might not be the best man for the job as Prophet. God then says that since He made Moses, He consequently made his mouth. And if He made his mouth, then consequently He knows how to make it do what it needs to. I've felt like that and then some the past few weeks. Although I can't articulate any idea I want to, the grammar, understanding, accuracy, and fluency have gone through the roof. It's certainly not due to anything on my part, either. So, if any reader of this blog is a bit of a skeptic, or they've wondered what the gift of tongues mentioned in Acts or other places is all about, take my word for it (no pun intended): When God needs somebody to do something for Him, and when they are doing what he asks of them, He will provide. I honestly don't think about what I need to say in Czech anymore. I just say it. There are a few exceptions still and I'm always improving my ability, but when it's easier to think in Czech and when you even understand what Slovaks say when you run into them, and you can't explain it based on what you're doing, then obviously somebody is making up the difference.
 
Hope you're all doing well, you're happy, healthy, and in good shape. I hear that things back home are really great and that also there are things that are really horrible. Just remember that when we are simply doing what He wants, nothing else matters and everything works out. He said "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." No matter what, we have burdens in this life. Why not have one that is easy and light instead of one that is full of fear, pain, and uncertainty.
 
Love you all! Feel free to keep sending letters, pictures (yes, we love pictures here very very much), and what's happening in your life.
 
Elder Brent Anderson

Monday, June 22, 2009

Good Morning Ostrava (Week 11 in Ostrava)

Hey All,

This week's post title, "Good Morning Ostrava", comes from the bi-daily weather report that originates from our Dubina Apartment. Imagine, if you will, the alarm going off (a odd variation on the Nokia ringtone). This is followed by hitting the snooze button. *Gasp* Disobedient missionaries? Haha, not so - we set the alarm five minutes early, and then "sleep in for a minute." We're always on our knees and ready to go when the second alarm hit's at 6:30 sharp. Then follows the weather report. Recently, it's been more focused on the pouring rain we've had for the last 2 weeks or so. It's been ridiculous. I haven't written about it in hopes that it would just go away, but it's felt more like monsoon season the last little while. Even now, my sneakers are soggy from walking in the wet streets. Consequently, contacting has been kind of dampered too. Weekends are usually pretty slow (did you know, that people in the Czech Republic vanish over the weekend? A few get left behind and meander around parks with their dogs, but most of the population disappears into countryside cottages over the weekend. Kind of a minus for missionary work). Even still, we've made the best of it. When it's apparent that street contacting isn't going to work, Elder Smith and I pick up ourselves with some singing. We bust out our zpevniks and start singing on the street corner. It's a lot of fun. Elder Smith is really good at singing and improvising with what our current musical selection (Another factoid - if you want to soul-up a song, just take the alto part and push it up an octave at good, moving moments. Another neat trick from Elder Smith). We actually went hospice singing yesterday, and when we decided to sing songs not translated into Czech, our whole district just improvised 6 part harmonies. It's pretty sweet. We're actually going to be doing a street display on Wednesday on the main namesti, and we're really excited to see how that goes given that our district is so musically talented.

A few temporal housekeeping items: Anyone have any good missionary recipes? Elder Smith is also a world famous cook (at least, if your world is as large as the missionary field in the Czech Republic). I'm setting some cooking goals with him, and I'd like to try out a few things. If you've got a submission, send it on a three by five card to my house (or just email it to them via my home email address, brentj84062@gmail.com). Better still, feel free to send it to the mission home in Prague. Letters are always welcome, even if blogs are almost as good.

This week's report on the work is a little down. Jan and Tomas, who would have been baptized over the weekend, have taken a turn for the worse. Jan vanished over the weekend, even though he's got a great testimony and really wants to get baptized, and Tomas is having difficulty making it to church regularly and being in Ostrava over the weekend to get baptized. Both vanishing unexpectedly and having logistical issues with church are not very constructive to missionary work. Even still, we're finding and teaching all the time. Here's a good one for you: A man knocked on our church door (well, rang the bell - their all about buzzers for doorbells here) during district meeting on Tuesday. He said that he wants to get baptized and his family too. I don't think he understood that we don't baptize infants, but we gave him our contact and invited him to church. He didn't make it on sunday, but I'm keeping my eye out for him so we can pick him up as a new investigator.

Another good miracle was a man we contacted on a bench. The sun was out for about an hour and he was enjoying it with a mug of moravian beer in his hand. Clean air, green trees, rain lingering in the air - it was perfect. He was a believer and, eventually, we introduced the book of mormon to him. We gave it to him and he started to read. We left, but apparently the sisters walked into an open air cafe nearby with an investigator. Grabbing a bite to eat over a lesson isn't uncommon, and the man on the bench saw their nametags. He went and sat in on their lesson, much to the sister's surprise. We're looking forward to getting in touch with him later this week.

I think out of what I've learned this week, the most important things were patience and love. Patience, because sometimes you do your best and it still doesn't work out. Love, because the best way to get somebody to love you is to love them first. It's been great to be here as a missionary for 2 1/2 months, because I've realized that the people that progress the most are the one's that you are most christlike with. When people see/feel his example from you instead of your own wants, desires, and wishes, they detect a sense of familiarity and progress with leaps and bounds. That friendship is especially important here, because people have for years been accustomed to being just one of the crowd and not being incredibly open. It's been difficult for them, especially here in Ostrava where the brand of Communism is still visible in many places on monuments and sculptures. When we strive to be more Christlike, amazing things happen. Some readers of this blog may have no idea what I'm talking about, and they may just think it's something I'm writing or saying. Another thing I've learned here is the lesson best taught in the adage "you can lead a horse to water, but it must do the drinking." We teach and exemplify, but the key is when people try something themselves. That's when miracles happen - when agency isn't abused but is sacrificed just a bit in exchange for faith, when you do something because you believe and not because you "know what's best." Therefore, I dare all of you to try it. Go read the gospels and see if you can be a little more Christlike. Go read 3 Nephi 11 - 27. Go read Preach My Gospel Chapter Six, if you have it. You'll be surprised at what happens when you do that. The foundation of everything rests on faith in Christ whether you are Christian or not. His example forges miracles and obedience to His teachings, even when people don't realize it's his teachings they are following, brings increased peace and happiness. I can say that because most of the pople we teach are doing some of the right things, and they think they're okay. But, when we keep following Him more and more, we discover that there is no end to the blessing or the reward.

Good luck this week, everyone! I'll be back next week with a street display and a zone conference to talk about.

Love,
Brent

Monday, June 15, 2009

The end of the beginning and the beginning of the new (Week 10 in Ostrava)

Hello All, I hope your last week has been helpful, fruitful, and full of good experiences. Looking back on this week, it feels like a month. Normally the weeks have felt really short but, as it has been said, time is best measured by how many events are in it. A lot happened last week, so I guess it feels like a long time. Looking back on the highlights, transfers come to mind most, including getting the new transfer sheet, going to the train station to drop off elder Auger and later to pick up Elder Smith, lots of contacting, lots of teaching, and lots of lessons for myself.

After getting transfer facts and going to Opava last week, it was time to head out and get back to work. Monday night we had some normal teaching appointments, but Tuesday was farewell day. Members, investigators, people I'd never even met were coming out of nowhere to bid farewell to Elder Auger. We had an activity after english where it seemed like everyone I've met this transfer showed up, which was kind of cool. Then it was time to pack. Several hours later, everything was put together and the apartment was half empty, it seemed. Wednesday morning arrived and, bright and early at about 4:45 the sun came up (I don't know how it is back in Utah right now, but we get a lot of sun here, more than I thought we had back home. Of note, it's been really cold here still and nobody seems to know why...) and so did we. A quick wrap up of packing and we headed out the door. We got to Svinov Mosty, a major train station here, and met with the other Elders, Elena, and Renata. The sisters were going to be on the train since there is another station closer to their house. Then we waited. Renata could hardly bear it, she loved Elder Auger so much. Unfortunately, the train was 40 minutes late, so we had lots of time to talk and joke and laugh. Finally, the train appeared down the tracks. Everybody got the stuff together, we found the car with Sister Anderson and Austin in it, and we loaded Elder Auger's and Elder Williams' things onto the car. A some tears, a few quick goodbyes (since they were running the train sooo late that anything else would have caused problems) and my trainer was headed off to Prague. I really miss Elder Auger. He was a really great example to me and helped provide a foundation for the next two years of my life, probably longer.

That afternoon, however, the pace changed for me. Apart from realizing that my greenie days are over, I met Elder Smith. Elder Smith is from Las Vegas. He used to have a band that performed Ska music and he was pretty good at it too. With a slightly laid back style and a love of the people, he's different but also very similar to Elder Auger. That's one of the lessons I've learned this week, is that the most important thing is what Joseph Smith taught when he said "teach them correct principles, and let them govern themselves." Our principles are in the Scriptures and Preach my Gospel. The self-government part could also be described as style. As long as you are founded on those principles, the way you do your work can vary broadly from a very intense, active approach, to a laid back and slower pace. In all, however, the same results seem to appear. It's most important to follow the spirit and be yourself as you continue to progress on your way back home.

The following days were filled with plenty of appointments, plenty of time to contact, and some time for us to get to know each other too. I was very pleased with myself on Wednesday and Thursday morning, because Elder Smith was still getting settled in and I realized it would be best for me to shoulder the bulk of the preparation load for a day or so until he was established. During that time, I realized that I've got a great capacity to shoulder the work despite my newness to the mission. Calling, texting, setting up appointments, contacting, talking to members and investigators - I'm a lot better at it that I thought I was. I've still got a long way to go, for sure, since there are plenty of times a day when I just don't get what words people are using, but I've been truly blessed to be able to accomplish what the Lord has for me here in the Czech Republic. When contacting, I don't even think about the language most of the time anymore - it just comes. When I read in Czech and have an English copy of what I'm reading at hand, I pick up words quickly and can see the progress. I truly feel 500% more empowered between this week and last week and, although  I don't know why, I'm intensely grateful for this wonderful blessing. Being able to spearhead the work and press forward is a very exhilarating feeling. Even when people don't want to listen, just getting a chance to talk and realize that your personal inadequacy isn't hindering your work is a great feeling.

Ultimately, this week has marked a great change in my progress as a missionary. I've realized many of these lessons, seen many personal miracles (for instance, I felt inspired to carry copies of the Articles of Faith cards in Czech - something I've never seen anybody do. I felt like I should put it on the outside cover of my vinyl envelope so anyone could see it. I packed it as I normally do, and when I was out contacting on Saturday - my last contact, in fact - the girl I was talking to saw the picture of Christ on the Card and just stared at it. I gave it to her and, when I went to write my phone number on the back, she wouldn't even let me do that - she wanted to keep it clean and requested I give her a different contact card for my number), felt inspired, directed, and blessed. This is how missionary work is supposed to be. I've got a lot of work to still get done, and the one thing about it is that it will never really end, but I do know that the Lord is laboring with us here in Ostrava.

Good luck to you all this week. I sometimes wonder if you need it more than I do with all these prayers around the world for missionaries. Then again, there is no such thing as luck with an omniscient God, so I'm sure he's taking care of you all as well.

Love,
Brent

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Some new photos of Starsi Brent

Here are some photos of Starsi Brent from a baptismal service.

Brent and Tomas
Tomas, Brent, Renata, Starsi Auger
Starsi Auger, Renata, Brent
Starsi Brent singing


Brent eating something that looks really tasty


Hope everyone enjoys these photos, courtesy of Sister Eva Ivanova in Ostrava.

Starsi Brent's dad

Monday, June 8, 2009

This week's miracle. (Week 9 in Ostrava)

This week has been truly amazing. When it all comes down to it, the works we are engaged in are ultimately directed by God himself. We just have to do the footwork down here in our little stewardships. I say this because we had a baptism on Saturday. Tomaš Koutný was baptized on saturday along with a woman named Renata Blomberg. Renata was not on the plan for Saturday. In fact, the branch didn't know she was getting baptized until that morning. I'll start on Wednesday.
Wednesday night we have Institute. It's like seminary but member led. It's a really great program and everybody gets a lot of out of. Renata, a new investigator from the preceding tuesday, was invited to attend. She came on our member trip to Stramberk, came to all three hours of Sunday meetings, and was completely excited to come on Wednesday to Institue. We had a meeting with her on Tuesday where we showed her the Joseph Smith film. She was blown away and loved the message and the meaning. She came on Wednedsay to Institute. We then taught her afterwards for a moment where Sister Ivanova shared her testimony along with a man from Utah named Bernard Pyšňak who is a native of Ostrava but lives in Bountiful. He bore solid testimony by sharing his conversion story. She felt the spirit very strongly and we set up for the next day. The next day we went to her house (had lunch - svičková, which is pretty much amazing; I'm making it when I come home) and taught a full plan of salvation. Again, the spirit basically ran the whole meeting and was very easily felt. We set up for Friday night before sports.
Friday night arrived. We started teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We covered faith in Christ, his role in saving us from sin, and then went into repentance. We talked about baptism, and just as we started talking about the holy ghost Brother Pyšňak knocked on the door, saying he wanted to share his testimony and see how things were going. He then bore perfect testimony about baptism and the truthfullness of the Gospel and of the verity of the Church. Afterward, Elder Auger said that it was the strongest he'd felt the spirit in a meeting with an investigator. Rentata started to cry and said she wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. District Leader Elder Williams was in the building, we set up to interview her, and spent the next two hours teaching the remainder of the lessons. What was neat is that God had prepared her to be in line with all the gospel principles before our meetings. She looked up information on our Church when we talked with her last week after english, and stopped drinking coffee. She understood the commandments and how we believe them and already started to follow them. After a few phone calls and some paperwork, we were set to have two baptisms on Saturday.
Saturday arrived, we went to Krasne Pole, and I had the awesome experience to be able to baptize Tomaš Koutný, a boy who wanted to be baptized for 8 months but hasn't had parental permission. He still doesn't, but has taken the step ahead and knows that God will take care of him. Renata was baptized as well, and when we confirmed them both on Sunday they both felt the verity of the ordinance. Renata could hardly get up after her confirmation, she was feeling the spirit so strongly.
For me personally, it has been a very great blessing to watch such a fast teaching track. I really appreciate taking the time and patience to invite others to come unto Christ now. I also felt my personal capacity with the language increase this week when we contacted on Wednesday and I had no problems speaking or understanding. It's been one of the best weeks of my mission, right up there with the last week of my MTC stay.
Transfers are on Wednesday. I'm staying here to be followup trained by Elder Smith. He's been in Prague for nine months and is way excited to get to work in a new area. Apparently he's a great singer and he's got a great attitude when it comes to missionary work. Sounds like it's going to be a great followup transfer! Ultimately, the baptismal figures and the number of lessons we teach are great, but it's the love we have for our brothers and sisters and showing them how our lives have changed forever because of the incomparable message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. We don't force, we don't push - we invite and bear testimony through example, countenance, and behavior. When we find, we talk with people and help them see how the Gospel matters to them. Ultimately, we all already accepted Jesus Christ to get to this earth. Thus, we're just reminding people of what they already believe in.
Good luck this week!
Brent

Monday, June 1, 2009

More P-day photos (sorry for the extra post)

P-day photos

P-day photos

Week 8 in Ostrava: The beginning of the end of the beginning

I'm looking down at the beginning of the end of the beginning. In a few short days, I'll not be a greenie anymore and my companion will be going home. I'll of course have a new companion to work with here in Dubina, but things won't be the same from that point on. The work progresses, the people are receptive, and on Sunday we had about 60 people at sacrament - a record in the history of Ostrava. We've also got two more baptisms this weekend, two men named Tomaš. The first Tomaš has wanted to be baptized for months but his parents haven't given him permission. Now that he's 18, he's decided and will be going ahead this week. He's also asked me to baptize him. :D I'm excited. Our Tomaš is a student of about 21 who has a really solid testimony. He even helps us teach one of his friends sometimes, which is really neat to watch. He can just read something and understand it almost perfectly. So, we give him a lot of reading assignments and he rolls ahead with everything. I'll post pictures of that baptism next week. In the meantime, I have pictures from the last few weeks to post. They're too big to post one by one, so I'll zip them up and send them home with captions.

So, as far as the particulars of this past week, a lot has been the same with teaching and finding. We went on a vylet on Saturday to Štramberk (an ancient town about 40 minutes south of Ostrava) and brought along one of our new investigators, Renatka. Renatka has been coming to english for a while, but she had a down week last week. For the Spiritual Thought I bore testimony to our purpose in life and to the plan for us on the earth, and she started to tear up. Elder Auger talked to her about things and set up to meet with her to talk about her purpose, something that she's been looking for for a long time. Martin, the boy who stopped us on the street a week or so ago, keeps meeting with us regularly and has a lot of great questions. He's started bringing a friend, Lucia, who speaks english really well and who loves meeting with us too. Apart from that, we've taught a number of members, contact a lot of our street contactacts, and stay busy with everything overall.

For me personally, this week has been really hard, especially the last few days. I've been hitting a wall with the language recently, especially with people talking to me and me, for some reason, not understanding what people are saying to me. They'll say something and when I don't understand, they react as if it's a bit of a shock. Kind of frustrating. Even so, I'm still forging ahead. I'm feeling like I'm paying the price right now for success in the future. It's said that the greatest battles are fought on the battlefield of the soul, and that every external success comes first from an internal one. Consequently, I'm certain that the coming weeks and months will be full of even greater growth, progress, and blessings for myself and especially for the people I'm serving around. I'm making it a policy to contact on trams and when travelling as much as possible (somewhat difficult with people getting on and off all the time). At the very least, service and example go a long way in getting people interested in our message. Just today as my companion was shopping he was able to talk to the sales lady for a few minutes about who we are and what we do. Even last night we had a good conversation with a group of men who were interested in copies of the book of mormon. There are people everywhere that we can serve, we just have to keep our eyes open.

I hope you all get a chance to do something nice for somebody this week. Even just talking to someone sitting on a bench for a few minutes can make a lifelong difference to someone. I see that every day I'm here and know that sometimes that's all it takes with people. Good luck this week!

Brent

P.S. I'm glad I got to go to Nate's farewell. :P Haha, Christie and Mikayla are the best. I'm glad they're still hauling me (cutout Brent) all over the place. :)