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