Hello everyone,
It's been a pretty intense week. Let's go through this in order so I don't get confused. Monday: P-Day was short because, as a mission, we met our goals to teach 400 member lessons, 1200 other lessons, find 270 new investigators, and speak 7000 hours of SOL in 3 weeks. Amazing how much football can rally a group of people, isn't it? :P No, our motives were still pure, but the objective of getting together as a mission and having a common goal really made it possible (BTW - huge lesson to be learned from that concept of having a common goal and achieving it; That's kind of why the Gospel is important, since it contains the goals that last longer than just a lifetime). So, we hit the streets on Monday and started talking and working. Elder Bown rose to the challenge of starting contacts, making phone calls, heading out planning, and otherwise taking a stab at being a senior companion for a few days. The shocking thing was, it was a relief for a few hours, and then it became a bit of a burden. It's incredible what happens when you destabilize the balance in a companionship. All of a sudden, you start getting really tired and your overall effectiveness drops significantly. But, Elder Bown needed the experiences, so we pressed on. Tuesday rolled in, similar experience. The neat part was we had a member lesson with Tomaš talking about obedience and the sabbath. President Branda, the branch president here, bore powerful testimony of his conversion and the events leading to it, and Tomaš and President Branda connected really well. From there, we hit wenesday - a really really really long day. Contacting didn't work out very well, we were both really tired, and just plain burned out. I think we all know how that goes when energy just gets expended and our drive forward needs a recharge. We spent the night on the floor in the other area since it's closer to the train station. After waking up at 5, we realized that we didn't have our P-Day shoes for our trip to prague. Even though our bags were packed, we ran all the way home and then had to catch a 10 minute tram ride to the bus station to make it on time. We arrived in Prague, and it was a blast. Football, thanksgiving dinner. We sang some songs, and then got ready to hit the streets of Prague for the evening. Singing with all the missionaries on the streets and contacting Pražaks really helped fire us back up again. We regrouped and split up, going to different parts of Prague for street contacting, and I just have to say: I really hope I get to serve in Prague over christmas at some point - Everything was lit up, there were fires and street stands with czech foods cooking, people singing, music playing: a complete 180 from what I was seeing in Liberec. We had several very successful contacts, exchanged numbers with a few people and set up some meetings for the Prague missionaries, and you'll never guess what we decided to do for dinner.
There's a burger king in Prague. I love Czech food, but seeing a real american hamburger just about brought us all to tears. It was a pretty inspiring sight, with the shredded iceburg lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and a thin slice of beef with american (not czech, there is a difference) ketchup. Needless to say, it was a thanksgiving to be remembered.
So, we spent the night with the office elders on the couch, got up and got ready for the day, and went to Zone Conference. I wouldn't say this was my favorite zone conference, since the July conference was very powerful and inspirational. But, the testimonies and the messages about christmas, about the work, and the progress we're making was incredible. Some of the departing missionary testimonies were so powerful there wasn't a dry eye on the room. They passed out new recipe books for all the missionaries, too, so I'm not worried about having a shortage of food ideas anymore. :D
We headed home and, that night, we had a lot of preparation for a trip we were going on the next day. We spent the evening working with members, giving a blessing, and trying out the new christmas message we'll be sharing. Rather, the old message, because it's about christ, but the materials we'll be using are new. Unfortunately, I left my keys in the other elder's apartment, and the other elder's left their keys with the member. Which was a 30 minute bus ride away. So, the night ended up being spent travelling by bus and sleeping again at the other elder's apartment (We did get to bed on time though, if we hadn't been there then we'd have been up really late). Saturday, we planned and contacted a bit, sunday Tomaš came to church and we talked more about baptism. We're not sure if he'll be making the 12th of December, but he's definitely going to make it in the next month or so. We're really happy about all the progress he's making, he's a really neat man to teach. I was reading in Alma the other day about King Lamoni, and it hit me that we were basically teaching a king Lamoni. Elder Bown and I haven't decided who gets to be Ammon though.
Apart from being absolutely exhausted, we're doing well and we're all ready for the christmas season. If all goes well, we'll be shooting off a few christmas cards to you all with love from us here in Liberec.
And now for something completely different, a few thoughts on Christmas. If you've read the first few chapters of Luke, you're familliar with the story of Christ's birth. I'd encourage you to read it and then consider the message that underlies the coming of the Savior to the earth and the mission he fulfilled, the message found in John 3:16-17.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
This happens to be my favorite scripture, because it encompasses everything which is important in the Gospel. Principles of justice, mercy, the law, our relationship to God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and the means by which man may find the joy which "surpasseth all understanding." I've seen that joy transform the lives of people who claim to come from the most atheist nation on earth, and the changes are incredible. There is greater light, hope, happiness, love, and meaning in the lives of those who seek for and apply the truths of the Gospel. All things good in life, all lasting joy comes from this source. So, as we prepare for meetings with friends and family, dinners, parties, gift exchanges, and christmas break, I'd encourage you all to seek ways to give something to Him to whom the holiday was created. Serve someone, find a way to give yourself more into His care, bless the life of someone in need. Try to live part of the life He lived. It will change your life as you approach Him.
Thanks everyone for your love, support, letters, and encouragement. The work of the Lord is this work. He is the head of this Church, and I know that He lives. I hope you all have a fantastic few weeks leading up to Christmas, and that you take advantage of opportunites to serve in the meantime. I love and miss you all, and look forward to writing you about this up and coming week.
Thanks,
Elder Brent Anderson
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Record breaking week ( Week 6 in Liberec, Week 32 in Czech )
Hello Everyone!
So, I'm afraid that in the face of all the work we've done this week, I've not thought a whole lot about any particular experiences to be shared that would be of interest or constructive to send home. The velvet revolution anniversary was on Tuesday and, despite tons of posters and things about it, Tuesday arrived and Czechs burst into traditional Czech celebrating: They all stayed at home and enjoyed time reading, napping, and doing things with their families. No parties in the streets, no banners or fireworks (Well, I think there were fireworks, but I didn't see any parties related to such festivities). They did project pictures of the revolution on the walls of a mall for a few hours, but that was about it. Even still, 20 years of Czech Republic!
In other news, Soner is taking a break from investigating so he can get his passport in order. I can handle that, since if he were deported we'd be 100% investigatorless, and he still has interest. So, we'll see how this goes. In the mean time, he's been a great blessing to us and especially to elder bown. Tomaš is moving along just fine, we're heading into commandments with him tonight, helping him understand what we need to avoid or repent of to come closer to God. He's a really neat man, and we are very blessed to have him in our responsibility.
We broke records last week, primarily. The last three weeks have been tallied so the mission can determine if we're good enough to take a thanksgiving day before zone conference. And, turns out that we do! Our zone broke an all time mission record by finding at least 3 new investigators this week per companionship across the zone. To my knowledge, that adds up to almost 30 new investigators in just our zone. Pretty neat! We taught a ton of lessons, member lessons, and spoke a lot of Czech. Elder bown is starting on a new leg of missionary work today with what's being dubbed "Lord Bown Week." He's playing the senior companion until Saturday, so he's responsible for the phone, he's teaching more, making sure we're planned properly, and he will be buying our bus tickets to Prague for thanksgiving and the turkey bowl football game. Oh, we're excited.
Thanks everyone for your support, your letters, your pictures, and everything else. I love hearing from you all, and I'm looking forward to getting some mail on Friday so I can send you all Christmas replies. :D
Have a great week!
Elder Brent Anderson
So, I'm afraid that in the face of all the work we've done this week, I've not thought a whole lot about any particular experiences to be shared that would be of interest or constructive to send home. The velvet revolution anniversary was on Tuesday and, despite tons of posters and things about it, Tuesday arrived and Czechs burst into traditional Czech celebrating: They all stayed at home and enjoyed time reading, napping, and doing things with their families. No parties in the streets, no banners or fireworks (Well, I think there were fireworks, but I didn't see any parties related to such festivities). They did project pictures of the revolution on the walls of a mall for a few hours, but that was about it. Even still, 20 years of Czech Republic!
In other news, Soner is taking a break from investigating so he can get his passport in order. I can handle that, since if he were deported we'd be 100% investigatorless, and he still has interest. So, we'll see how this goes. In the mean time, he's been a great blessing to us and especially to elder bown. Tomaš is moving along just fine, we're heading into commandments with him tonight, helping him understand what we need to avoid or repent of to come closer to God. He's a really neat man, and we are very blessed to have him in our responsibility.
We broke records last week, primarily. The last three weeks have been tallied so the mission can determine if we're good enough to take a thanksgiving day before zone conference. And, turns out that we do! Our zone broke an all time mission record by finding at least 3 new investigators this week per companionship across the zone. To my knowledge, that adds up to almost 30 new investigators in just our zone. Pretty neat! We taught a ton of lessons, member lessons, and spoke a lot of Czech. Elder bown is starting on a new leg of missionary work today with what's being dubbed "Lord Bown Week." He's playing the senior companion until Saturday, so he's responsible for the phone, he's teaching more, making sure we're planned properly, and he will be buying our bus tickets to Prague for thanksgiving and the turkey bowl football game. Oh, we're excited.
Thanks everyone for your support, your letters, your pictures, and everything else. I love hearing from you all, and I'm looking forward to getting some mail on Friday so I can send you all Christmas replies. :D
Have a great week!
Elder Brent Anderson
Monday, November 16, 2009
Powerful Week ( Week 5 in Liberec, Week 31 in Czech )
Hello everyone,
It's been a very powerful week here in Liberec South. It's really incredible to me how much we've been working, how many miracles we've seen, and how I've grown personally. We'll go with news and then some thoughts I've had recently.
This week was full of all kinds of craziness. We had interviews on tuesday with President Slovaček (Yes, I passed :P) and we talked about how well we're doing as well as how we can improve. President is amazing. He is an incredible example to me. He brought mail and packages, however nothing for me (yet :P). Not a lot of meeting last week. Actually, very very few happened. It was rather dissapointing. In the end, I knew that it was all right (We'll talk about that in a second). We were kicked out tracting too (Pretty funny - the apartments here are all inside of huge buildings, so you have to get inside the building in order to knock on any doors. That in and of itself is usually pretty funny. Reminds me of my former life as a secret agent....) And on top of that, our man from Turkey, Soner, the one that wants to be baptized, hasn't been seen for a week. He seems to have just vanished! We'll get an occaisional call with him, but meetings have dropped off to zero last week and we're worried he may not make it.
Then, the silver lining of the weekend hit. But, as with every silver lining, we had a major cloud to burst through first. Not much interest, no one wanted to talk or they'd forget they had appointments and not come, or set up for this week now. We did find a neat kid from Armenia that wants to meet with us and his family, so we'll see how that goes (his name is "Žok", as in some crazy french pronunciation of "jeaques" - I swear french is just cheating at scrabble). Then, we hit the magical 5/6 week mark of the training transfer. Everybody has one, and Elder Bown hit his mark. It's the critical time when the language is really really frustrating, the training hard, the work intense, and you start feeling the heat and the pressure. After a long talk and some teaching about the atonement and the power of the savior in our lives, we came out on the other side absolutely fired up and ready to tackle this coming week. So powerful. I really can't do it justice in a quick letter home like this. It was the most powerful moment of my mission up until now, and I can say once again that I know that the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ changes lives. It's changed mine, it's changed struggling missionaries, I'm watching it transform Tomaš, and if any of you want to know what it's like to see the hand of God turn you into something greater than yourself, then try it and go find someone who can teach you about it. I'd recommend the missionaries, but most members of the Church know what I'm talking about. The power of the atonement is what ends up powering missionary work in the end. You can't do it by yourself, you can't do it for goals or for anything except for Love of others, love of God, and the Atonement.
We had a critical meeting with Tomaš on Saturday during all of this wherein we discussed these same things. Tomaš is a great example to me, because he knows what and how and why to come to God. He first wanted faith, then he prayed and is still praying, and he's reading to understand what prophets have taught about God in the past. He came to this meeting wanting to know how to repent. So, we taught him more about faith, how it's like a seed (Alma 32). He loved it, and now refers to that seed when he feels the spirit every time. We taught him about the atonement from Alma 34 and then into prayer from Alma 34. He loved it, and sees how and why we need a redeemer. We taught about the gospel again, addressing baptism and extended a date to him for the 12th of December! He accepted it, as well as an invitation to church. He left that night, grinning, ful of the spirit. He came on sunday, listened to the messages (I had one about home teaching), and loved it. He liked it so much, he wants to come "next time we have that meeting." I don't know if we told him it's every week.
In the end, this week was amazing and very powerful. We're watching first hand the power of the atonement change lives, and I want you all to know that I know that He lives. I've never met him personally, but I'm looking forward to that day, and in the mean time I'm going to do everything I can and know how to do in order to bless the lives of others with the light that comes when we come unto him and follow His example. Why does it all matter? What is it that makes it all so meaningful? It's those moments in those quiet chambers of our souls that are beyond the things that are happening right now, or tomorrow, or next week, and where the deepest feelings and thoughts and emotions we struggle to express begin to find expression in love, mercy, devotion, service, sacrifice, life, and light. When we feel the darkness of confusion or the weight of sin pulling on us, the transgression of laws we understand only in simple terms like children rather than in some Godly form of calculus, as it were, and when we reach out to Him in prayer for that healing love which "surpasseth all understanding," it's in those moments that I've found the strongest, most brilliant testimony forged. I'm convinced that life without faith in the Lord leads to inhuman existence, to thoughts that man isn't much more than an animal and that the rest of what we do here really doesn't matter, so why bother? We'll just eat, drink, and be merry. Ethics, morals, quality of life, happiness, joy, and love all come from one source. Now, I can say that, and it could be trite, but it's true - and the only way for you to find out it is true is to try it for yourself. Find out what relationship you have with heaven, with the Savior and His Father. It will surprise you.
I love you all. I pray you may all find greater light and hope in your lives. At all times may we seek to become more like Him and to accept of His mercy.
Elder Brent Anderson
It's been a very powerful week here in Liberec South. It's really incredible to me how much we've been working, how many miracles we've seen, and how I've grown personally. We'll go with news and then some thoughts I've had recently.
This week was full of all kinds of craziness. We had interviews on tuesday with President Slovaček (Yes, I passed :P) and we talked about how well we're doing as well as how we can improve. President is amazing. He is an incredible example to me. He brought mail and packages, however nothing for me (yet :P). Not a lot of meeting last week. Actually, very very few happened. It was rather dissapointing. In the end, I knew that it was all right (We'll talk about that in a second). We were kicked out tracting too (Pretty funny - the apartments here are all inside of huge buildings, so you have to get inside the building in order to knock on any doors. That in and of itself is usually pretty funny. Reminds me of my former life as a secret agent....) And on top of that, our man from Turkey, Soner, the one that wants to be baptized, hasn't been seen for a week. He seems to have just vanished! We'll get an occaisional call with him, but meetings have dropped off to zero last week and we're worried he may not make it.
Then, the silver lining of the weekend hit. But, as with every silver lining, we had a major cloud to burst through first. Not much interest, no one wanted to talk or they'd forget they had appointments and not come, or set up for this week now. We did find a neat kid from Armenia that wants to meet with us and his family, so we'll see how that goes (his name is "Žok", as in some crazy french pronunciation of "jeaques" - I swear french is just cheating at scrabble). Then, we hit the magical 5/6 week mark of the training transfer. Everybody has one, and Elder Bown hit his mark. It's the critical time when the language is really really frustrating, the training hard, the work intense, and you start feeling the heat and the pressure. After a long talk and some teaching about the atonement and the power of the savior in our lives, we came out on the other side absolutely fired up and ready to tackle this coming week. So powerful. I really can't do it justice in a quick letter home like this. It was the most powerful moment of my mission up until now, and I can say once again that I know that the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ changes lives. It's changed mine, it's changed struggling missionaries, I'm watching it transform Tomaš, and if any of you want to know what it's like to see the hand of God turn you into something greater than yourself, then try it and go find someone who can teach you about it. I'd recommend the missionaries, but most members of the Church know what I'm talking about. The power of the atonement is what ends up powering missionary work in the end. You can't do it by yourself, you can't do it for goals or for anything except for Love of others, love of God, and the Atonement.
We had a critical meeting with Tomaš on Saturday during all of this wherein we discussed these same things. Tomaš is a great example to me, because he knows what and how and why to come to God. He first wanted faith, then he prayed and is still praying, and he's reading to understand what prophets have taught about God in the past. He came to this meeting wanting to know how to repent. So, we taught him more about faith, how it's like a seed (Alma 32). He loved it, and now refers to that seed when he feels the spirit every time. We taught him about the atonement from Alma 34 and then into prayer from Alma 34. He loved it, and sees how and why we need a redeemer. We taught about the gospel again, addressing baptism and extended a date to him for the 12th of December! He accepted it, as well as an invitation to church. He left that night, grinning, ful of the spirit. He came on sunday, listened to the messages (I had one about home teaching), and loved it. He liked it so much, he wants to come "next time we have that meeting." I don't know if we told him it's every week.
In the end, this week was amazing and very powerful. We're watching first hand the power of the atonement change lives, and I want you all to know that I know that He lives. I've never met him personally, but I'm looking forward to that day, and in the mean time I'm going to do everything I can and know how to do in order to bless the lives of others with the light that comes when we come unto him and follow His example. Why does it all matter? What is it that makes it all so meaningful? It's those moments in those quiet chambers of our souls that are beyond the things that are happening right now, or tomorrow, or next week, and where the deepest feelings and thoughts and emotions we struggle to express begin to find expression in love, mercy, devotion, service, sacrifice, life, and light. When we feel the darkness of confusion or the weight of sin pulling on us, the transgression of laws we understand only in simple terms like children rather than in some Godly form of calculus, as it were, and when we reach out to Him in prayer for that healing love which "surpasseth all understanding," it's in those moments that I've found the strongest, most brilliant testimony forged. I'm convinced that life without faith in the Lord leads to inhuman existence, to thoughts that man isn't much more than an animal and that the rest of what we do here really doesn't matter, so why bother? We'll just eat, drink, and be merry. Ethics, morals, quality of life, happiness, joy, and love all come from one source. Now, I can say that, and it could be trite, but it's true - and the only way for you to find out it is true is to try it for yourself. Find out what relationship you have with heaven, with the Savior and His Father. It will surprise you.
I love you all. I pray you may all find greater light and hope in your lives. At all times may we seek to become more like Him and to accept of His mercy.
Elder Brent Anderson
Monday, November 9, 2009
You mean there is a God? (Week 4 in Liberec, week 30 in Czech)
Hello Everyone!
So, this week was good, somewhat like other weeks of missionary work, but also full of miracles. Really exciting. That man, Tomaš Matoušek, that we found last week on Sunday is really progressing fast. We had a meeting with him on Tuesday, and when we taught him about using prayer from our own words, from our hearts, it blew him away. "Wow - you mean I can actually use my own words and talk to god?" It was very humbling when, after we asked him to pray on the end of our meeting, he asked if he could do it maybe next time so he can try it on his own first. After a second, he asked "Oh, does that mean I don't have faith if I won't try it now?" He's so keenly interested in discovering his relationship to his Heavenly Father and in communicating with him, in developing that faith, that he thinks about our lessons almost all the time between them. We taught about Joseph Smith, the book of mormon, and he's been reading from the beginning. We'll be applying scriptures from the book of mormon soon and using passages to teach him not only doctrines, but how to use and love the scriptures. I love the scriptures. There's always something new to learn. I heard that was the mark of good literature, that it yields to you more and more the more you experience in life and the more you study it. Well, I guess the scriptures fit that description perfectly.
Soner isn't doing as well as I'd hope, but he's honest in intentions and desires. He doesn't know how to read German and, although he understands, his memory of things learned in German isn't particularly good. Since we don't have any turkish materials, we're having to develop plans with members and rather elaborate lessons using tons of scriptures that he'll have in his turkish book of mormon in order to teach principles. If it comes down to it, we'll go looking for someone who speaks Czech or English as well as Turkish, and then have a translator to make this happen. But, in the mean time, he's progessing and he prayed for the first time with us on Thursday.
We've started a family home evening program every friday and it's already started to change the life of a family being taught by the other elders. A single parent family that didn't believe in God, the feeling of the spirit when we sing about eternal families and about our heavenly father has influenced them to believe that God may exist, and they are starting to see changes in their own relationships for the better. The Gospel brings light, life, and happiness wherever it is applied, and I can say that because I'm seeing it first hand change the lives of people who have been taught that there is no God and that we're all just one big accident, that we should make a ton of money and that's it. Oh, how much more there is to life than just the things that last for a while and are gone. I know for certain that the message of the restoration and of the Gospel of Christ empowers us with the vision of eternity sufficient to give us purpose in every righteous, worthy activity. What a blessing!
I love you all, I pray for you all, and I hope you're all being taken care of just as much as we are out here. We'll be having another zone conference in about 2 weeks, so if you're planning on writing letters or anything and you want them to get here before December, you've got a few weeks to get that done. I'll be getting mail tomorrow, so you can expect some snail mail (or, as I like to think of it, pigeon-carrier mail since it's sometimes about that fast) in a couple weeks or so.
Otherwise, have a great week and I'll tell you all about the adventures of Elder Anderson in our next episode. You can expect some things about new investigators, a new baptismal date (:D that'll be two in two weeks!), and, if all goes well, a family!
Thanks,
Elder Anderson
So, this week was good, somewhat like other weeks of missionary work, but also full of miracles. Really exciting. That man, Tomaš Matoušek, that we found last week on Sunday is really progressing fast. We had a meeting with him on Tuesday, and when we taught him about using prayer from our own words, from our hearts, it blew him away. "Wow - you mean I can actually use my own words and talk to god?" It was very humbling when, after we asked him to pray on the end of our meeting, he asked if he could do it maybe next time so he can try it on his own first. After a second, he asked "Oh, does that mean I don't have faith if I won't try it now?" He's so keenly interested in discovering his relationship to his Heavenly Father and in communicating with him, in developing that faith, that he thinks about our lessons almost all the time between them. We taught about Joseph Smith, the book of mormon, and he's been reading from the beginning. We'll be applying scriptures from the book of mormon soon and using passages to teach him not only doctrines, but how to use and love the scriptures. I love the scriptures. There's always something new to learn. I heard that was the mark of good literature, that it yields to you more and more the more you experience in life and the more you study it. Well, I guess the scriptures fit that description perfectly.
Soner isn't doing as well as I'd hope, but he's honest in intentions and desires. He doesn't know how to read German and, although he understands, his memory of things learned in German isn't particularly good. Since we don't have any turkish materials, we're having to develop plans with members and rather elaborate lessons using tons of scriptures that he'll have in his turkish book of mormon in order to teach principles. If it comes down to it, we'll go looking for someone who speaks Czech or English as well as Turkish, and then have a translator to make this happen. But, in the mean time, he's progessing and he prayed for the first time with us on Thursday.
We've started a family home evening program every friday and it's already started to change the life of a family being taught by the other elders. A single parent family that didn't believe in God, the feeling of the spirit when we sing about eternal families and about our heavenly father has influenced them to believe that God may exist, and they are starting to see changes in their own relationships for the better. The Gospel brings light, life, and happiness wherever it is applied, and I can say that because I'm seeing it first hand change the lives of people who have been taught that there is no God and that we're all just one big accident, that we should make a ton of money and that's it. Oh, how much more there is to life than just the things that last for a while and are gone. I know for certain that the message of the restoration and of the Gospel of Christ empowers us with the vision of eternity sufficient to give us purpose in every righteous, worthy activity. What a blessing!
I love you all, I pray for you all, and I hope you're all being taken care of just as much as we are out here. We'll be having another zone conference in about 2 weeks, so if you're planning on writing letters or anything and you want them to get here before December, you've got a few weeks to get that done. I'll be getting mail tomorrow, so you can expect some snail mail (or, as I like to think of it, pigeon-carrier mail since it's sometimes about that fast) in a couple weeks or so.
Otherwise, have a great week and I'll tell you all about the adventures of Elder Anderson in our next episode. You can expect some things about new investigators, a new baptismal date (:D that'll be two in two weeks!), and, if all goes well, a family!
Thanks,
Elder Anderson
Monday, November 2, 2009
Blog a Blog Blog ( Week 3 in Liberec, week 29 in Czech )
Hello Everyone!
It's been a really great week. We had zone conference on Friday, and it feels like christmas came early! We got tracting logs, family home evening kits (I've been wanting one of those for a long time), and the office elders whipped out a really slick system for reporting progress in the mission. It's cool because it integrates across the entire mission, so graphs update live as the mission updates itself. It's aimed at helping us set more effective goals each transfer and then working to fulfill those goals. I couldn't have programmed something better. ;)
Weather report for the week: It's been freezing, floating around 4 degrees C with 20 km/h winds running down off the mountains. And, it's humid. But, we're happy and healthy, so don't worry about that. I've added scarves to my wardrobe selections, so we're starting to move up from just the splash of color on a tie as we hit the christmas season. Maybe I'll look into sweaters and argyle socks sometime, but I really don't care - as long as it keeps the wind out. Elder Bown, surprisingly, has had a harder time. I actually feel really great when it's cold, but he's been feeling it cut to the bones lately. It could be because of something I haven't shared with you all yet. He's...vegetarian! We've been cooking w/o meat for a while now, and I'll add it onto my food as a garnish afterwards. I'm making do alright, an it's stretching us to higher vistas in cooking as a mission. I just worry for the day when a member dishes up anything Czech (they always use meat) in front of him. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks. In the mean time, salads are popular here in Liberec.
Baptisms are too! We extended a baptismal commitment to Soner, the Turkish German, last week. He's living a lot of the commandments already, and we'll be getting him involved with members soon enough so that he can start building that testimony that is so critical to true conversion. Baptism doesn't mean anything unless there is pure intent behind it. Otherwise, you can get the same effects by going swimming. Not a whole lot otherwise.
In addition to that, we went finding last night (after watching the priesthood session from Conference - Elder Uchtdorf is such an excellent example for everyone) and the first man we had a conversation with said he too has been feeling the push of a divine hand but hasn't known what to do. He knows us as missionaries, somewhat, and we are going to teach him tonight. He's also well established with expectations, knowing that one of the consequences of learning with us will be baptism. Stay tuned for the next two weeks of exciting progress with him!
Otherwise, I'm really happy and healthy. I'm learning a lot, my companion is too (he crashes every night, it's kind of funny how hard he's getting pushed), and we're both seeing miracles coming from the hand of the Lord.
In working here, it's becoming clearer and clearer how much of the work is our part and how much is His. Really, we just need to provide a working context for Him through which he gets his business done. We aren't here doing things for ourselves or for anyone else, for that matter. We're here for Him, and doing what he wants done. He knows who needs teaching, he knows how and why. I think it extends beyond to "real life" in that when we are doing the things that the Lord has in mind, when we are 100% aligned with his will and act on it 100% diligently, then the blessings come and they come in large measure. That is where the 100% rate of progress appears. That's a high percentage!
Good luck as we head into a new month! I'm really glad you're all doing well at home and that you're all doing so well with school, work, and the other mix of things going in life. I'm excited to see what happens in the coming days and weeks, and hope you are too! Keep praying for the missionaries - we feel it in very real, direct ways, and I hope you all get a feel for what's going on out here through these quick letters home. It's all true, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Elder Brent Anderson
It's been a really great week. We had zone conference on Friday, and it feels like christmas came early! We got tracting logs, family home evening kits (I've been wanting one of those for a long time), and the office elders whipped out a really slick system for reporting progress in the mission. It's cool because it integrates across the entire mission, so graphs update live as the mission updates itself. It's aimed at helping us set more effective goals each transfer and then working to fulfill those goals. I couldn't have programmed something better. ;)
Weather report for the week: It's been freezing, floating around 4 degrees C with 20 km/h winds running down off the mountains. And, it's humid. But, we're happy and healthy, so don't worry about that. I've added scarves to my wardrobe selections, so we're starting to move up from just the splash of color on a tie as we hit the christmas season. Maybe I'll look into sweaters and argyle socks sometime, but I really don't care - as long as it keeps the wind out. Elder Bown, surprisingly, has had a harder time. I actually feel really great when it's cold, but he's been feeling it cut to the bones lately. It could be because of something I haven't shared with you all yet. He's...vegetarian! We've been cooking w/o meat for a while now, and I'll add it onto my food as a garnish afterwards. I'm making do alright, an it's stretching us to higher vistas in cooking as a mission. I just worry for the day when a member dishes up anything Czech (they always use meat) in front of him. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks. In the mean time, salads are popular here in Liberec.
Baptisms are too! We extended a baptismal commitment to Soner, the Turkish German, last week. He's living a lot of the commandments already, and we'll be getting him involved with members soon enough so that he can start building that testimony that is so critical to true conversion. Baptism doesn't mean anything unless there is pure intent behind it. Otherwise, you can get the same effects by going swimming. Not a whole lot otherwise.
In addition to that, we went finding last night (after watching the priesthood session from Conference - Elder Uchtdorf is such an excellent example for everyone) and the first man we had a conversation with said he too has been feeling the push of a divine hand but hasn't known what to do. He knows us as missionaries, somewhat, and we are going to teach him tonight. He's also well established with expectations, knowing that one of the consequences of learning with us will be baptism. Stay tuned for the next two weeks of exciting progress with him!
Otherwise, I'm really happy and healthy. I'm learning a lot, my companion is too (he crashes every night, it's kind of funny how hard he's getting pushed), and we're both seeing miracles coming from the hand of the Lord.
In working here, it's becoming clearer and clearer how much of the work is our part and how much is His. Really, we just need to provide a working context for Him through which he gets his business done. We aren't here doing things for ourselves or for anyone else, for that matter. We're here for Him, and doing what he wants done. He knows who needs teaching, he knows how and why. I think it extends beyond to "real life" in that when we are doing the things that the Lord has in mind, when we are 100% aligned with his will and act on it 100% diligently, then the blessings come and they come in large measure. That is where the 100% rate of progress appears. That's a high percentage!
Good luck as we head into a new month! I'm really glad you're all doing well at home and that you're all doing so well with school, work, and the other mix of things going in life. I'm excited to see what happens in the coming days and weeks, and hope you are too! Keep praying for the missionaries - we feel it in very real, direct ways, and I hope you all get a feel for what's going on out here through these quick letters home. It's all true, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Elder Brent Anderson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)