Hey everyone!
So, it's been a week and a few days since I last wrote home. What a week it's been! We had zone conference on Monday and, basically, we are starting to prepare to launch into the next stage of missionary work here in the Czech Republic as well as Europe at large. Elder Perry led a mission president's conference in England a few weeks ago and, apart from the fact that as Czech missionaries we are leading the missionary work in the Europe area, we have been called upon to be teaching at least 20 lessons per week, as well as to be regularly baptizing every transfer and double the number of active members in the church within the next 10 years. How exciting is that? What's really exciting is that we are also being empowered with the tools to accomplish this powerful vision. I've been learning so much about vision here as a missionary that I don't know how I ever accomplished anything before. When we expect results before we go to accomplish something, our effectiveness increases by incredible degrees. When we go tracting or contacting, we aren't just looking for our lucky "golden" family or individual. We expect the results to be there. The results of this include us finding a family that started giving us referrals before we had taught them, finding an older couple who started to small talk with us when the husband suddenly interrupted and basically demanded that we teach him our message, going tracting and being let in immediately after saying a prayer, and other powerful miracles that serve as evidence that truly we are involved in a mighty work here. I'm so stoked for this week it might even be somewhat unhealthy (consequently, we're starting to go running in the morning along with our regular sprint to get to the shower first in the morning).
Iva, our baptismal date, is also progressing. She knows she needs to be baptized and, even if she doesn't agree with everything yet, it is evident that the spirit is working on her to help her receive the truthfulness of the message we have. Isn't it remarkable how the Lord has provided for every one of our needs? The plan of salvation is so comprehensive, it is almost overwhelming for many people. Indeed, one of our investigators started to get upset and went on a tangent for 45 minutes trying to find a hole in the plan of salvation, but never even got close. There aren't any, is the problem. And, the blessings from preparing for and building a powerful home built on faith, prayer, and obedience are so evident that it is just humbling to think about. To consider that I was born into a family with such a foundation when so many people come from broken homes or from unsure foundations makes me so incredibly grateful. I guess what prophets have been telling us for thousands of years really is true, that the only thing that will save the human family from destroying itself is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in it's fullness. Really, that is the answer, and it's not because everyone will just be on the same page. It's because there is pure power that comes from righteous individuals, power that changes lives for the better. I see it every say when people keep commitments. It's evident in the way they hold themselves, in the way they take care of their appearance. They know who they are: they are children of God with divine destiny, and nothing short of that will satisfy them.
Elder Machado is fantastic and is an incredibly balanced missionary. Between obedience, teaching by the spirit, finding with vision, and constantly working on self-improvement, he's a great example to me of what a missionary really should be. It's a shame that he's starting to wind up his mission in a few months, but I'm also very fortunate to learn from him while I'm here and incorporate that into my work as a missionary personally.
Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Whenever I get letters from anyone back home I can't help but be happy for a few weeks on end since I'll read them several times over. I hope you're all doing well and that these brief tangents and views into what we're doing here in Trebic help you all to see what it's like here. It's so beautiful, so green. I need to get out and take a lot more pictures than I have been (I've not been documenting as well as I should be) and start sending them home. Trebic is like a classic czech or european town, and it's covered in history (We found a part of the original walls of the city that dates to the 1100's last week - I'd say that's pretty sweet).
Good luck to all you who are starting school! It's crazy thinking that a year ago I was just getting my feet wet at BYU. Kind of crazy how time flies, isn't it? Even still, I know there are a million more experiences to be had here in Trebic and I'm looking forward to pushing the work ahead that much more this week. I'll try to be a little more organized next week when I write. In the mean time, good luck. Attached is a picture I took next to the library. It gives a pretty good idea of what it's like here.
Love and miss you all,
Elder Anderson
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