Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What shall we give? ( Week 29 in Prague, Week 89 in Czech )

Unlike President Uchtdorf, I'm afraid I can't take an airplane experience or Dr. Suess and turn it into a talk about Christmas. Thank goodness I don't have to. Instead, I'll be satisfied with writing this special Christmas Edition of the ever-continuing adventures of Elder Anderson in the Czech Prague mission. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to say today, what I would write if I had the chance to share my testimony of the Savior at a special time of year when we celebrate his birth.

It seems like lately when I write there is a particular piece of something on my mind, a song or a church video clip or something like that. There is a clip of "What shall we give?(http://lds.org/topic/christmas/christmas_video_9.html) that I am rather fond of. The music and it's message mesh so well together, and it inclines me to think about what I can give at this time of year.

I think it goes really well with this quote by Henry van Dyke that I have. It strikes me whenever I read it and I wanted to share it with you all today:

"Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe to the world;
to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance,
and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that your fellowmen are just as real as you are;
and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness - are you willing to do these things even for a day? 
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open - are you willing to do these things even for a day? 
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil,
stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? 
Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone."



As I consider these thoughts and questions, it always turns my thoughts to people around me, to that time my companions shined my shoes or made my bed for me, or the door we held open the other day for an older lady, or getting to strengthen a missionary who is struggling, or whatever it might be. The Last line really speaks the message: You can't keep it alone. This Christmas, we've worked hard to prepare our investigators and help them see why Christ is our Savior. Repentance and experiences with the Atonement are two key and vital aspects to missionary work and to the changes people need in their lives. It's evident that people need to learn to forgive one another, to love more and to align themselves with the Great Exemplar. I'm so grateful for the Savior and for His gospel, the template he's given us to pattern our lives so we can have peace in a struggling world.


Tomorrow is the Christmas conference here in Prague. We've organized a great program with scriptures, carols, and a full devotional. We're singing some great music too and (hopefully) we'll get it on film so we can share it with you all. I'm very grateful for this time of year and I hope that you all enjoy this wonderful time of year.


Přeji veselé vánoce a hodně úspechu ve novém roce!


S láskou,
Starší Brent Anderson

Saturday, December 18, 2010

A plethora of Andersons, or one more week 'til Christmas ( Week 28 in Prague, Week 88 in Czech )


I have on my desk a shallow box that's slightly larger than a normal size sheet of paper. On it there are 24 perforated windows, making it an advent calendar. Each box is numbered, and when you open a window, it reveals a Cadbury chocolate and images of Christmas like small toys or Christmas trees. There's a light snow falling this morning, and the whole mission home is full of smells and decorations that lend to the overall Christmas atmosphere. In the immortal words of Kermit the Frog, "After all, there's only one more [week] 'til Christmas!"

This week was very Christmasy in a lot of ways. For starters, we hit the road on Tuesday with a van full of Christmas packages. With a bag of sunflower seeds and a Santa Claus hat, we hit the blizzardy roads of the Czech and Slovak republics, making rounds to all the districts on the way. We pulled into Zilina in Slovakia Tuesday night and woke up early the next morning to hold our last training for the year in Slovakia. The training was great, the missionaries all took home new ideas and new fire to do the work with more zeal and spirit. Immediately after the conference, it was back on the road to get back to Prague. Elder Thompson is a great driver, and despite slippery, icy roads and hills, we rolled back into Prague on Wednesday night, ready to take on the rest of the week.

This is where we roll to the news. My parents have known for some time, but I'm not sure about what news has been passed around, so I'll break the news officially to everyone.

Thursday this week we had a mini-transfer. I'm still here in Prague with Elder Thompson. But, we've added another missionary to our companionship making it a threesome of assistants. Elder Andersen from Texas moved apartments in Prague. He used to be a zone leader here, but he's come on board as another assistant to compensate for some other changes that are happening. A few months ago, President Irwin sat me down and discussed the departure of the Andersons (So many Anderson's in the picture, so we'll keep this straight: The Anderson couple are the mission finance and executive secretaries, Elder Anderson is me, and Elder Andersen is the zone leader gone AP). The Andersons are going home in January, but their replacements, a senior couple from Utah, won't be coming until March. Last time the office couple switched, it was very hectic because there was about a 2 month gap in the mean time when there was no real training for either of the jobs, leaving the Andersons in the dark for several months. To avoid that and keep things running smoothly, I've been asked to serve as the mission finance and executive secretary and, when possible, to still serve with my two other companions. To fill the gap completely, we've also applied for and received approval for an extension to my mission! When everything is said and done, I'll be back in the USA on the 28th of March. I feel really blessed to get the extra time out here. Things will be different, but it seems that they are always different since things are always changing. But, it's evident that this is all part of the plan and that the Lord arranged everything this way. He knew how things needed to be and he knows Who to put in what places. He knows me by name. What a good thing to know.

As far as the changes we'll see from this, I'll spend a lot more time in the office, I've learned a lot about accounting, why credits are recorded as minuses and debits are pluses (Still wrapping my head around that one, but I think I get it), and how to use a fax machine. Re-reading that line probably has one of my biggest worries - what am I going to write about each week? I'm sure you'll all be dying to know about the new spreadsheet we have for tracking rents and apartments, or each time I fix printer jams, but those are at best poor excuses for letter material. I'm sure that life will throw interesting as well as spiritual curve balls, as it always does, and that the best read blog from the Czech Prague mission office will not run dry of dry wit, or get soggy with silly consonance.

I do have a few thoughts to share as we approach the holiday associated with His birth, perhaps revolving around the oft-mentioned gift-giving associated with Christmas time and how the best gifts are the gifts of self. I sometimes wonder how we can give of ourselves, but the heart of the matter is just that: our hearts. The giving of ourselves is truly found from our hearts. I cannot say how many times I've seen stark contrast as a missionary between work I've done and work I've done because of love. There is no comparison in the results, in the blessings, or in the difference we can make in someone else's life when there is our heart involved. Elder Wilson, a soon-to-depart missionary, touched on this in the testimony meeting last night when he said that the influence of a priesthood leader is much greater than we realize when they have the spirit, which includes doing things from the heart. A couple of words spoken by the Holy Ghost at a missionary conference serve to answer many prayers. A couple of words easily fade into everything else presented or spoken, but it's small and simple things like that which make the impact.

I think that's why I'm so grateful to be where I am right now. My mission looks very different to what I expected when I first put the name tag on, but it's so much more rewarding than I expected it to be as well. I know that the most important thing, and the thing I'd like you all to get from today's letter, is to put yourself in a position where the Lord can rely on you and do what He wants you to do. I think we sometimes say, "well, he knows everything, he is all-powerful, so despite my own personal weaknesses He'll do what he wants." I somehow doubt that an attitude like that is a workable one with the Lord. It's like when we feel a spiritual prompting and ignore it, it will persist for a few moments and then fade into the background patiently and wait for us to come to Him, or it will go to someone who may not be as capable but is willing and humble. That willingness and humility, both stemming from faith, make all the difference. Pray "Lord, I recommit myself to you. Do what you need with me, and I'll go there with You." I find it rather scary personally, but when I do that I see greater blessings thanks to it.

In other news, we went to the airport this morning to drop Elders Wilson and Melling off, however much to their dismay their flight had been cancelled and they will be leaving in another two days. I hope you enjoyed what's been on my mind lately and that you leave time to ponder, perhaps when it gets dark, to step outside into crunchy snowflakes and see my breath billow into the icy air. I love to look at stars in those moments, it seems to remind me where I fit in as part of the big picture, and it reminds me that despite the vastness, He does know us by name.

S láskou,
Starší Brent Anderson

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The 12th day of Christmas ( Week 27 in Prague, Week 87 in Czech )


Hey everyone,

This last week was spent mostly on the road. We were going from conference to conference, from Zone to Zone, teaching all the missionaries in individual zone meetings. On Wednesday we had a bit of a hectic time trying to get to the insurance office - they'd closed half of the subway system, and in the hustle and bustle, elder Thompson and I were bounced all over Prague. It was almost like a scene from an apocalypse movie with everyone trying to evacuate to outside of the city, except instead it was people just trying to get into buses and trams so they could get home. At any rate, between blizzards and congested public transport, we've had a good week teaching and training the missionaries.

This week's letter will be short, next week's will be really interesting, so stay tuned. In the mean time, let's all count down the next 12 days of Christmas together and make up a list of what the Savior has done for us and what we can do for the Savior this holiday season. Christmas is a time that most people spend together as families and with friends. While I'm out here I'm spending it with Czechs and missionaries, but the most valuable thing is always in the giving of self. I'll be writing more on this as we get nearer to Christmas, but I hope you enjoy this time of year, be it as work and school prepare for the break or as home and family start winding up for the holidays. One thing I will share before I close is a thought President Irwin shared the other day in training. President Irwin is a teacher by profession, and he shared this anecdote:

"One day I was up in front of my class teaching. I had a group of 9 year olds that year, and they were all riveted on my board. I had chalk in hand and I was explaining some concept. I can recall so vividly turning around and putting the chalk on the board to write something, and suddenly a rather simple but profound thought crossed my mind: These children will never get to be 9 again. This is their 9 year-old classroom experience, and they'll never be 9 again. I must give them everything they need while they are still 9, because they will never be 9 again."

That thought really struck me, because today is the only 12th of December 2010. Once it's gone, it's gone. I'm only a missionary once, and once it's gone, it's gone. Don't forget to enjoy time as it passes and to realize that, even when things are really hard or hectic, or if it's normal, or nice, or beautiful, you have it for a moment. Enjoy that moment, and live in such a way that each moment, even during the hard times, is one that you can be pleased with, because you never know when things will change.

Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Of Blizzards and Baptisms ( Week 26 in Prague, Week 86 in Czech )


*Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap!*

Elder Thompson's 3000 words-a-minute rattled throughout the office. Elder Anderson suspected that, in a face off, his red-headed companion would ream him in a typing contest, but he never said anything about it. He was glad to be serving with him and thought he was the best companion anyone could have, especially at this time of the year.

With Christmas fast approaching, the weather also moved into position and proceeded to dump a foot of snow on the whole Czech republic, rendering everything white, fluffy, and surprisingly dry since it was so cold - nothing could melt and get wet! The Elders were grateful that the weather was just right for the winter, since nothing is worse than cold and wet and windy. Cold, dry, and windy is at least a workable environment, and everything looked so good covered in snow and ice.

They'd had some misadventures that week getting stuck in the snow and having to shovel continually in order to keep the mission home from getting buried, planning conferences for the up and coming week on the road (Sidenote: P-Day next week won't be happening for us due to conferences and travel, so the next installment in the Adventures of Elder Anderson will be a day or two late), and teaching some really powerful lessons with some of their investigators and recent converts. Two particular experiences were gems for the Elders that they were sure to remember and keep a hold of, as they demonstrated the care Heavenly Father has for His children and how each of us can pass that love on to others.

The first happened last weekend. The Elders had returned from finding efforts around Prague and crashed in the office, with a few minutes before they had to be home. They decided to take a look at ways they could inspire and bless Jirka, ways they could help him see that by choosing to act the Lord would bless him with answers.

In the midst of studying and looking up scriptures, talks, and quotes, a phone rang. Surprised, the Elders wondered "What Czech makes phone calls after the deathly late hour of 8 PM?" The caller ID read "Dan", a young single adult member they knew very well. They answered the phone, and the conversation sounded something like this.

Missionaries: "Hello?"
Jirka: "Hello, it's me, Jirka."
M: "Hi Jirka! How are things?"
J: "Dobře. So, Dan and I have been talking...and....well, you see...It's like this..."

The missionaries were uneasy - they knew this kind of conversation. It either meant that things were going to turn out incredibly well or really, really bad....

J: "We've been talking about the whole baptism thing, and I told Dan that I just don't know if I can do it...it's just...I don't know..."

The missionaries were on edge...they hung on every syllable of his clean sounding czech accent, anxious to find out what this was all about!

J: "After talking it over, everything...I told Dan a lot of my doubts and fears about this whole thing, and...well...."

It seemed like an eternity for the Elders. While a clean accent, Jirka tended to speak with a lot of pauses...



J: "...I've decided it's time to go ahead with things. Is the 11th of December okay?"


M: "...."

J: "Hello? Are you there?"

M: "Yes! Yes we're still here Jirka! We're just speechless, is all. The eleventh sounds great!!! How about we meet tomorrow after Church to hammer out some details, eh?"
J: "Okay....I don't know what to say about all this now, so....here's Dan, talk to him."


After a bit of arrangement and some scheduling, Jirka, the branch, and the missionaries settled on the 18th of December. After two long years of struggling with testimony and indecision, despite being highly active in the branch and coming on time to every activity because he loved the people and the atmosphere, Jirka decided to get baptized.

But the story doesn't end there: This is the good part.

The next day, they met with Jirka after church. Jirka was bolder and more self-assured than ever, and he began to tell of his experience the night before riding the train home after his late-night conversation with Daniel.

He said that while in the train, he was pondering on the things they'd talked about and on the restoration. And, all at once, he felt something, a warmth and a peaceful, joyful feeling rest upon him. He was surprised, and didn't know quite what it meant. Then it became clear to him and a thought materialized in his head: "The Book of Mormon is True"

Pleasantly surprised, he related how that feeling lingered with him for several hours that night, and he felt as well as knew the things he'd been learning were true. The feeling left him quickly, however, when he started entertaining doubts he'd had before, and he lost the feeling. He felt alright at that sunday meeting with the missionaries, but he had only one desire: "How can I maintain that feeling?"

The missionaries established a plan with him, they helped him develop strategies to combat the adversary's doubts and lies, and they gave him the assignment to read the first part of the Joseph Smith History.

The next evening they had another meeting with him, and he came with a smile on his face. It was just after a powerful family home evening lesson on the history of the church in the czech republic, a discussion led by two older members who had participated in organizing the church under communism and in bringing materials across the border, including dark crimson copies of the Book of Mormon with the letters KM on the front, which stand for "Karl Marx", "Communist Manifesto" (In czech "Komunistický manifest"), and "The Book of Mormon" ("Kniha Mormonova"), and which enabled them to get the books into the country disguised as party materials.

Jirka enjoyed the review of his country's history relative to the Church, and he recognized that there was too much on the line for these people to not know that the book of mormon was true. He then related how, the night before after our lesson, he had had a similar experience to the one he'd had on Saturday, but this time the thought was "Joseph Smith was a Prophet". The agreement between his mind and his heart was seen, and he knew that it was true.

The missionaries then took the time to teach him a profound doctrine, one that was vital for everyone to understand. In fact, President Irwin had outlined this idea in a recent letter to the missionaries as follows:

Sometimes we (mankind) want results without work. That's backward. As Robert Anthony once observed, you can't stand in front of your fireplace and demand, "Give me heat, then I'll give you wood." Many want to wait for a revelation before they go anywhere, but perhaps revelation requires a little action first. Sometimes you have to get going before you get guidance.

John Bytheway has said "I've always loved the story of the healing of the ten lepers recorded in Luke. When they asked the Saviour for mercy, he told them to "Go" and shew (themselves) unto the priests" (Luke 17:14). Jesus' instructions are interesting because visiting the priests is what lepers would be required to do after they were healed in order to be readmitted to society. But Jesus asked them to find the priests before they were healed. The lepers might have responded. "We can't show ourselves to the priests, we're not healed yet ! " Instead they decided to "go and do" what Jesus suggested. Luke records, "And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14). The scripture doesn't say "And it came to pass, that as they just stood there, they were cleansed." It says, "As they went they were cleansed." As someone once said, "God cannot steer a parked car."

With Jirka, he received the evidence of things unseen after he had chosen to act. The truthfulness of his act was made manifest in his choice to go ahead and act on what he had, and the Lord richly blessed him for it.

The Elders were pleased, and were excited for the next week. They took time to make some goals to apply this themselves, to "make the first move" and reap the blessings for it.

As the tired Elders laid down that night, they felt good about what they'd done. And they were happy.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving ( Week 24 1/2 in Prague, Week 84 1/2 in Czech )


Surprise! So we have P-Day today, I forgot to mention that last week, but I hope you're all doing well. This week will just be a bit more of a note than anything. Enjoy thanksgiving this year with all the trimmings - family, friends, food and all. It's trying to snow over here, here's to a white Christmas in more ways than one. :-)

Elder Brent Anderson

(Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of Brent with your prayers, letters,other remembrances. We are truly grateful for all of you and your kindness. It means so much to us and to Brent as well.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and a very merry Christmas season as well.

Starsi Brent's parents)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Thanksgiving ruminations ( Week 24 in Prague, Week 84 in Czech )


(Cue the music from the Church's thanksgiving video from last year "In the spirit of thanksgiving", the one on the streets of new york)

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to this Special Edition of my random ramblings and writings to relatives and really close friends. It's the Thanskgiving edition, and while I don't know *quite* what's going on back home, I'd like to start off by talking about a lot of things I'm grateful for. Some of them are things I've always been grateful for, but some of them are things I've learned to be grateful for on my mission. This is in no particular order, and it reminds me of a game we played in Olomouc for our Family Home Evening night when we'd take a ball and toss it back and forth between each other. When you catch the ball, you say something you're grateful for. While I enumerate a condensed list below, think about some of the things you're grateful for and then ask the person next to you what they are grateful for.

I'm grateful for the pictures on my wall in the office, the ones of people that mean a lot to me in the Czech republic.
I'm grateful for the little Czech flag I got about two years ago from my best friends that's right next to those pictures.
I'm grateful that we have a dryer in the mission home. Fluffy towels and wrinkle-free shirts are something you can't get if you just have a clothesline or a drying rack.
I'm grateful for the letters that all the missionaries get every day - a mailbag full - and for how happy and loved it helps them feel.
I'm grateful for the picture of the Savior I have on my desk that reminds me of what's important.
I'm grateful for my Scriptures. I think I can count on one hand the personal possessions I have that I'd be devastated to lose, and they are on that list.
I'm grateful for my companion, Elder Thompson. I was thinking about it last night, and it's not every transfer you get someone like him.
I'm grateful for good zone leaders to look after.
I'm grateful for the Church and it's programs, for the general leadership and for how much they care about and look after the missionaries and the members.
I'm grateful for Joseph Smith and his diligence leading up to the First vision, plus that experience in and of itself
I'm grateful for the progress that our investigators are making and their desire to work towards baptism.
I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost and the role he plays in conversions, including my own.
I'm grateful for friends and family back home that think and pray about us every day and every night
I'm grateful for Temples and covenants
I'm grateful for the people we've found this week and the lessons we've taught

The list could keep on going and going, but that's enough for the moment.

This last week we had another conference (Remember the time when writing about a conference was unusual and only happened every now and then?), a two day leadership training in Brno. We reviewed the fundamentals of preach my gospel training that we've been working with since August and I got to spend the night on a luxurious set of single-seat chairs that I stuck together. It was actually rather comfortable, and I was grateful to have a place to sleep.

During the conference, the two new sister missionaries had to work together since their companions were at the conference. They've been learning Czech for about 9 weeks now, so it's a bit of a stretch asking them to go out and work on their own in a city they've never been in before (Brno), but we did. It felt like a great opportunity for them to get out and perform some miracles, even though they might not realize that with their calling as missionaries, they are fully qualified to perform miracles - they just have to activate that power within them through obedience, faith, prayer, and work.

Below is an excerpt from my letter to my mom this week talking about their experience.

So we had a good conference in Brno (again - always traveling), we had all the mission leadership together. I was really proud of the two new sister missionaries. Because their trainers were in the conference, I had to figure out where to put the two sisters where they'd be safe since they're brand new but still productive. So, we gave them a phone and had them go contacting in Brno. They were absolutely terrified, but we gave them the same pattern I talked about last week in my email (Faith -> Prayer -> Work) and sent them on their way. The first day, they came back thrilled at having found two numbers. Then they set a goal to double that and get four numbers. The next day they were really anxious (Which is good, I think - it indicates that you can break through and be successful) but they hit the streets and came back a few hours later with five phone numbers. It's something small, but think about the task: Speaking a foreign language that you've been learning for about 3 months, you've only been around natives for 3 weeks, most are devout atheists, and you're trying to set up meetings and get their phone numbers. At any rate, I was very proud and I'm not too concerned with these new missionaries that we have. They're great. If only everyone were as simple, innocent, and faith-filled as the new missionaries. It's something you see as a missionary very clearly is the pride cycle, all too often in oneself - as you learn and gain experience, then you forget how much help you actually need and you get proud. It takes some humbling experiences to bring you back around.

So, in conclusion, be grateful this week, enjoy the holiday and the food, and look for ways to perform miracles in your own lives. It works, and I know that the Lord is willing to bless us when we are doing what He would have us do.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, November 13, 2010

A week? ( Week 23 in Prague, Week 83 in Czech )


Hello Everyone,

Things have been good here. We went on another exchange and I got all the logistics organized for a conference next week in Brno. We made assignments for all 35 missionaries that needed temporary sleeping, companion, and travel arrangements for a few days. Normally we wouldn't spend quite so much time in the Office, but Elder Thompson and I have been sick. He's got the stomach flu, I've got a head cold, and we're both working on getting over it. But, it's been a good couple of days. In Olomouc on exchanges this week, we had to run to catch the only train we could: the bullet train. We left from a meeting with Lilia who is doing great, and we had a 17 minute metro ride plus getting through the train station when the train itself left in 16 minutes, and by all accounts we shouldn't have made it - especially considering that this train is the most clockwork piece of public transportation in the country. But, true to the counsel fresh on our lips to Lilia, that when you don't know how to do something but you know it's divinely approved, you should first have faith, second pray, and third work as hard as you can. And, you'll succeed! So, we prayed with her and her member friend in the friend's apartment, ran into the elevator, and on the 7 floors down to the ground floor said a fervent prayer. Then we ran, and we ran, and we caught the metro just in time, and we waited patiently as it galloped through the depths of Prague. The metro clock read 7:25 PM when we got off, the train left at 7:26 from the platform that was up two sets of stairs and about 400 meters through crowds of bustling travelers. I think the last set of stairs was the worst. And, as we climbed up the last set of stairs, we could hear the beeping of the train doors sliding shut. With the last burst of energy we had, we piled into the doors just as they closed and we were on board headed for Olomouc. I don't know how we did it, but it was a miracle.

Travelling by train at 80 miles/hour is a much better experience than other trains here. You could actually sleep on it without getting rocked back and forth. When we arrived, it was raining (As usual) and Elder Thompson talked about how when he was in Olomouc last year it just rained and rained and rained all the time. When we planned with the zone leaders, they had just contacting all day long on their plans. That's not very pleasant when it's pouring rain, so when we prayed together I said the prayer and asked for blue skies and clear weather. The next day was great, the skies cleared out that morning and the rest of the day was overcast. But, workable for contacting. We did get a lesson set up for 2 PM, but he couldn't make it, and we sat down. We read a scripture, and as Elder Pearson prayed I had a vision of where we needed to go. It was a street I didn't like contacting when I served in olomouc, since it was skinny and hard to stop people on. I just thought to myself "No, it couldn't be up there...no way. I can't believe that someone could possibly be over there." Then I stepped back and saw the voice for what it was - a doubtful voice, a negative one, and I pushed it offstage. We stood up, and I knew we'd be successful from there to the place we had planned to go to. On the way, we found a family (Libor and Petra, proud parents of a baby boy) and a few students. Then, just as we got to the point on the road that I saw, we saw a woman next to the restaurant on the street I had seen as the point we needed to go to, and we contacted her. She was on her way home from buying a bible for her son, and it wasn't long before she asked us "How much does the Book of Mormon cost?"

It's been a good week, and I'm glad for what we have. Next week we're going to Brno and we're working closely with one of our investigators to overcome 2 years of fears and get baptized.

Don't forget to look for the little miracles and be grateful for them, especially as we near thanksgiving directly. I really like the thanksgiving video the church did last year that they republished this year on their website, the one with people from the streets of new york. It's good to see people grateful for the simple things.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Lilia, the newest Czech member

Here is a photo of Lilia, just before her Baptism. Brent is next to her and Elder Thompson is to the left. This was taken today.

Today is a good day ( Week 22 in Prague, Week 82 in Czech )

Two conferences, an exchange, and a traffic jam later, the tired Elders sat in the back of the big blue mission van. Elder Andersen, the zone leader from Texas, was at the wheel, and Elder Anderson, the AP from Utah, was lolling in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position to enjoy the trip back to Prague. It had been a week, but what a week it had been. They had met with Lilia on Monday and she had her interview for her baptism. She passed, and sat down afterwards beaming with the two Elders. They talked about how far she'd come, about how she'd fasted for a week, and about her willingness to obey the commandments. When it came to the Word of Wisdom, she complied with faith and no doubts. Time for church was readily sacrificed. Her interest in living the Gospel was evident, and she was grateful for it. Even tithing, something that few in today's world will accept and live by without a flinch, was no issue. She then shared with them something miraculous that had started from that point the week before.

When taught Tithing, Lilia expressed her desire to keep all the commandments, but she also knew that in order to pay tithing, she must be making money. While she was a legal resident of the Czech Republic, she did not have full working status. Thus, her options were extremely limited. While she wanted to work, she was not as young as she used to be and she couldn't handle the demands of some jobs like working for a cleaning agency in the middle of the night. And, without english or computer skills to back her resume, she had struggled for six months to find someone who would give her a job. She simply didn't know what to do, especially when faced with the commandment to pay tithing.

As with each of her meetings, Lilia was worthy of an outpouring of the Spirit. His unrestrained influence guided the missionaries and taught her many things that perhaps were not even said. So it was when Elder Thompson taught about fasting. And so it was today when the Elders simply knew what blessings to promise her. "Lilia, if you are willing to keep the law of the tithe, we promise that the Lord will provide you with work. We don't know how and we don't know when, but we know He will." She accepted the commitment and they closed with a prayer. They were both content and peaceful in their hearts, and they knew that within the week the blessing would come. The day of her interview came, she passed, and we return to that moment when she spoke of a miracle. "I wanted to tell you how glad I am that we met and that our paths crossed. I remember your promise last week, and I want you to know that I start work as a hairdresser tomorrow."

She was baptized that Saturday and could see a bright, straight, and narrow path laid in front of her. She had friends, and she had knowledge. Most importantly, she had a covenant with her Heavenly Father which she was prepared to keep forever.

To anyone who reads this, I declare that there is a God in heaven and that He has servants, and I and my companion and our fellow missionaries everywhere are among their number. He is a God of miracles, and the miracles exist today in every shape and kind just as they ever have, and I am a witness of those miracles.

It's been a really good week, and I hope that yours is just as good too. I will also mention that my sister had a baby this weekend, his name is Kelton. I'm way excited to see him.

Love you all,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Faith and Prayer ( Week 21 in Prague, Week 81 in Czech )

Hello,

This last week has been great! It's been an interesting series of days composed of many meetings, Lilia zeroing in on her baptism, and we brought in 5 great new missionaries from all over the united states. We also had to part with three missionaries who were going home. This group represents the last group of czech missionaries to leave before next march. But, as I've been saying around here for a while, I'll be here forever. :) No going home for me.

We take the new missionaries out contacting as part of their first day in Prague, mostly to wear them out so much that they sleep all night long and get adjusted to the time difference quickly. We gave them the extended prague walk, about 10 KM of hiking from site to site, which covers the bulk of the really good things to see here. We naturally run into members on vacation a lot, which is fun. They saw Prague Castle, the Senate gardens, Charles bridge, the old town square and the clock tower, the monument to Prague Spring riots, the museum, and a modern art statue of Saint Wenceslas on a horse that's upside down. They were nervous the whole time since we take them out contacting at the end of the walk but right before dinner. "We can't do that! Talk to people? In czech! But half of us are going to slovakia!AHHH!"

This is where the most important thing I've learned on my mission came into play, and I'd like to share it with you.

When God gives us a commandment through scriptures, living prophets, or personal revelation, we might be scared a bit. That's normal. But, we get to make a choice: Are we going to believe and do, or will we doubt and not do. There is no "try" involved. You do it, or you don't do it in the end. When we choose to succeed, we confirm that faith with prayer to make it a reality. Then you go out and work to achieve it. It's very simple, but incredibly powerful. Every blessing that God wants to give us may be earned by following that pattern of being obedient to his commandments, having faith, praying, and working. You will succeed. The new missionaries didn't know this yet, but we promised them success, made assignments, and prayed. Then we scooted them off. Within 30 minutes, they'd picked up 3 phone numbers all by themselves. They were elated! How did the assistants know that it would work? Well, because the Lord blesses the obedient, the faithful, and those who go out and work.

I've got to go now, but Lilia will be baptized this time next week and I'll get you pictures of it soon.

Cheers,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, October 23, 2010

I think we'll start today out with a poem ( Week 20 in Prague, Week 80 in Czech )



"It's easy enough to be pleasant
when everything goes like a song
but the man who's worthwhile
is the man who can smile
when everything goes dead wrong."  Author Unkown

Just another old day in the Office
With Elders and sisters around
But something was up
When the strange man showed up
Who's stuff had been lost but not found

"Where are my things?" cried the stranger
"I left them here minutes ago?
And they're gone like a flash!
Who ran off with my stash?
I guess I'll go break a window."

The next monring they shaved and they showered
'Round the corner they turned, and a gleam:
Where 6 panes had been
Oh, to their chagrin
There were rocks and sharp shards to be seen.

"Go figure" they said to each other
"President's gone for all of this week."
So they called a glass shop
And they grabbed the floormop
And a broom to make it all neat.

Then that night there were two members baptized
A slovak and an Elderly man
Despite all their peers
And the usual fears
They both came up joyful with tears

The Missionaries still performed miracles,
And slovakia with new fire was in.
Although he shoots sharp
With a fiery dart,
The adversary still will not win.

So the moral of all is simple:
When you've got a tough day that goes long
Choose grin over grim
You're still sure to win
If you turn a dead wrong into song.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The true translation for "V praze je Blaze, ale draze"

In his earlier post, we attempted to translate the phrase "V praze je Blaze, ale draze". Unfortunately, we were woefully incorrect. Our translation attempt was influenced by the content of his letter. It made sense to us. :) The correct translation for this, as provided by Starsi Brent himself, is, "Life's a blast in Prague, but it's expensive." He was able to briefly answer our question regarding this. It is nice that he works in the Mission Office. He gets a bit more leeway regarding email. 
We hope everyone has a great week.

Brent's parents

V praze je Blaze, ale draze (Good things are happening in Prague) ( Week 19 in Prague, Week 79 in Czech )

(Dad's note. The translation above is roughly what the phrase means. I will be asking Brent about the phrase meaning this week.)

Hello all,

This week was great! We've finally been able to spend some considerable time teaching and working in our area despite conferences and other interruptions. Lilia is doing really well, I'll tell you her story and probably have to wrap up from there. I've got some more pictures to send out, btw. :)

On monday, we met with Lilia. She had something troubling her, and she described some of her life challenges that she's been facing at the moment. We had planned on teaching the plan of salvation. As she was describing the state of her life right now (chaos) I was thinking about ways we could help her. In my very practical way I was thinking of people or places or things or scriptures to help her with as band-aids of sorts. Elder Thompson, however, who is easily the more spiritual half of the companionship, sat for a minute and then proceeded to teach her in a very beautiful way about the law of the fast. He shared some scriptures, bore testimony, and committed her and us to fast for her that day. We had a dinner appointment that night, and then we started our fast. The next evening, we had planned to text her to see how she was doing. She was incredibly positive, and said she was going to fast a little longer.

Two days passed. We spent time in Brno and in other places working and delivering the last two conferences for the month, and then we came back. Thursday was full of miracles. We had lessons, we went all over prague, and wherever we went the Lord had prepared people that we needed to meet with. Members, investigators, and then suddenly, in a crowd of literally thousands of people in the subway, we see this signature purple coat and bright blond hair. "Lilia!" She didn't stop. Worried, we ran up to her, "Excuse me? Lilia?" Was she ignoring us?

I ran up in front of her, "Hi!" A huge smile burst on her face. "Hello!!! I'm so happy to see you!" We briefly talked, and she said that "Since I started fasting, a miracle has started in my life! I can't tell you about it right now, but things are getting better and better every day!"

She then told us she had been fasting since Monday, making hers a 4 day fast. We told her again she only needed to go for a day at a time, or 2 meals, but it wasn't until our meeting on Friday (day 5 of her fasting) that she understood that one day is enough. She had only planned a five day fast to begin with, but it was remarkable seeing her faith and willingness to keep the commandments. She committed to the word of wisdom, and it looks like we'll be having a white November baptism. Her member friend, Tana, loves teaching with us as well and has been enjoying the time spent at her lessons.

Being a missionary is great. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, it's the most draining and the most focus-consuming. It leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. But, it's a beautiful thing.

Hope your week is full of the spirit and that you enjoy the upcoming halloween holiday.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Monday, October 11, 2010

New photo of Starší Anderson

We just received this photo of Brent, Elder Thomson his companion standing to his leftt, Elder Tomlinson standing to the right and Elder Lofgren. Brent and Elder Thomson went to high school together and are now Assistant's to the President. Elders' Tomlinson and Lofgren are office Elders.
Can you believe it? Brent will be home in March.


Have a great day!!

Brent's Dad

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Země Česká, Domov Můj! (The Czech land, my home!) ( Week 18 in Prague, Week 78 in Czech )

Hey Everyone,

Sorry, no prose this week. We've had a fantastic time travelling between cities in the country and into slovakia. We were slated to travel all the way to kosice (About the end of the world and a days journey by train), but we decided to get back on Thursday night so we could get some work done in our area. Lilia, the lady we've been teaching and preparing for baptism, has been feeling the spirit a lot in our lessons and other meetings. She said during our meeting yesterday, "Wait, what's this feeling? I have goose bumps everywhere." I love it when that happens, it means we can explain the role of the Holy Ghost and from then on, she gets what it means when she feels that way. She's getting baptized in two weeks, right before a mission conference we've just announced. Elder Pearson of the Seventy is making a visit, just in time to see the blessings of the missionary lessons they've implemented to build missionary skills and faith. He's one of the main authors of the lessons, and he's a director of the missionary department, so it's going to be an excellent experience for everyone. I'm very excited to meet him. I remember president Irwin saying when we started in July that we would not be having as many conferences and meetings, but so far this transfer we've had one every week and spent 16 days so far in conferences, with another handful to go. But, I believe the Lord is leading us where we need to be right now.

Not really sure what to write anymore, really. I could write about my personal studies lately, how reading in the book of mormon is awesome. I'm trying to finish by the 18th of November so I can get it re-read a couple more times before next spring.

In working with Czechs for the last period of time, it's remarkable seeing how our personal attitudes and belief can make a positive impact in the lives of others. Just the other day, we were on the street contacting and talking about how important a good attitude is. I said to my companion at the time (We were on exchange in Brno) that our attitudes bleed over to others. "Here, watch this." And I put the biggest smile I could on. A few minutes later we had a return appointment and he wanted to bring his friends to learn about the book of mormon. Our attitudes strongly influence the behavior of others. Sometimes when we face hard times and difficult places in our relationships, we must remember what is important when we are teaching people and talking to them. When we make the move to be positive, happy, and loving, they will love us for it. Don't forget what John said about Christ's love:

"We love him because he loved us first."

So, choose to be loving. Choose to make the first move. If you do, you will be in good company.

Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, October 2, 2010

So much time and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it! So little time, so much to do! ( Week 17 in Prague, Week 77 in Czech )

Dear Family,

This week has been a whirlwind! We invited an investigator to baptism on Tuesday, a lady we found the first day of the transfer together when we were showing the new missionaries around prague to wear them out before bed. She's a hairdresser from russia who's lived here for some time, and she's enjoyed coming to church and activities. After watching the restoration film, she really enjoyed it and we told her about our next baptismal service this month. She asked, "What time?" and we were a little shocked at her willingness. To be on the safe side, we came around again and emphasized that this would be her  baptism, not someone elses. She agreed wholeheartedly! So refreshing to teach someone with such willingness. Armen is doing well, and we're just trying to figure out how to keep him spiritually fed while we're gone all of next week and part of the week after.

This transfer has flown by so far, but I'm grateful to be where I am. Contrary to popular belief, we do spend a significant amount of time working our own area and not just in the office. But, the office has seen a lot of changes since I first arrived, and it's clear the Lord gives us talents so we can use them.

Our conferences this week were with mission leadership (again), namely district leaders, trainers, and zone leaders. This transfer has been spent pouring a ton of time and energy into these missionaries, and it's remarkable seeing the progress we've made thanks to these efforts.

I hope you're all happy and healthy, doing well in school and finding time to enjoy life while we're in the thick of it. One of the immense blessings of missionary work is that you meet so many people, countless thousands upon thousands, and in seeing so many people I've grown to love the Gospel a lot because I can see what it means to have it and to not have it. It is so plain to me how living the gospel establishes solid, sound, and happy lives, and that when we are obedient the commandments and strive to magnify our purpose we become enriched and alive.

Enjoy this weekend's general conference, and I hope you find time to think of ways you can share the gospel that much more, even if it's just a bit.

Love,
Elder Anderson

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Elder Anderson: Visa Warrior ( Week 16 in Prague, Week 76 in Czech )

Let's preface the following with some context: I wrote on Saturday and woke up on sunday congested and with a chest-cold. From there, it didn't take long to garner the attention of the wonderful senior sister missionaries in Prague to load me up with medication and everything to clean me up. Then we started making plans for the longest three days of my life.

Sister Ganbataar the mongolian missionary arrived after waiting for a whole year last week. In preparing for new missionaries we have to register visas with the foreign police so they can work here without any problems. The difficulty in that is that there are two offices for registrations: one for Europeans and Americans, the other for everybody else. Our story begins this week on a dark, cold street corner with a single washed out street light and a line of foreigners from russia, the ukraine, vietnam, and the clump of huddled missionary coats and nametags working to stay ahead in a line of people, some of them more shady than others.

---
"I can only imagine...what it will be like...." *CLICK*

Elder Anderson reached up and pressed the snooze button on his phone for the first time on his mission. It was 4:00 AM and Elder Thompson had already gotten in the shower, meaning that he could afford a few more minutes. He layed there for a few minutes not really falling back asleep but enjoying the strange combination of NyQuill wearing off, the early morning waking hours on a Wednesday, and the thought of standing in a line of foreigners to register Sister Ganbaatar, the new mongolian sister, into the country. The line would be long, it would be cold, it would be dark, and it would be full of unsavory activity, enough to garner the attention of 5 or 6 czech crowd control policemen who would be regulating conditions at the police station.

"Tomorrow...tomorrow is Thursday! We might get to sleep in to 6:30!" the happy thought drifted by but was interrupted by his red-headed companion hopping out of the bathroom and Elder Anderson taking his turn. As he switched on the hot water, he looked at himself in the mirror and just about didn't recognize himself. A cold, three days of 4 AM trying to get sister ganbataar registered, and the life of a Czech Prague assistant had added a few wrinkles to his otherwise well shaven, well groomed complexion.

Then he thought to himself, "My, it's a good thing I took all those pictures before this week hit. I'm a mess!"

The first two days at the police had been fruitless. Day one they turned him away at the counter when he tried to use a power of attorney to represent Sister ganbataar since she'd already left for her proselyting area. "It has to be her, you can't do it for her," they said. Day two they brought her in and started standing in line. The Czech sunrise was nice at this time of day. At 7:30 however, just as they were about to get into the building, the police closed the line. "The office closes at noon and we've taken enough people for today. Go home and come back tomorrow." The missionaries were furious and to make up for it, Elder Anderson got breakfast for them. It seemed that when he could share food with somebody, or anybody, it made him happy. So he did.

Wednesday had come quickly enough, and after they'd dressed, picked up the sister missionaries, and headed over to the police station, they were ready to go to bat against red tape, sneaky foreigners trying to jump the line, and the layers of bureaucracy that didn't quite moult off over the years.

At about 7:30 they made it into the building and were issued number 829. They left and watched the tally board for a few minutes and calculated that they would be accommodated in about 5 hours. Sister Ganbaatar was about as excited as a toddler at christmas time. "Lets go contacting! We should start talking to everyone! Look at all the people!"

To his eternal shame, the hour of the morning and the lack of breakfast got the best of the otherwise stalwart Elder, and he settled on just doing contacting practice in the hallway. Later, the excited sister piped up again: "We should sing to everybody! Wouldn't that be great? Here's my hymnbook....how about "if you could hie to kolob?"" Elder Anderson was feeling better by this point, but suggested that we sing something a little more mainstream like "I know that my redeemer lives" or the Czech Prague mission song. After a few rousing chouruses from the trio of cold, hungry missionaries, the number "828" flashed on the board and they headed upstairs.

After weaving in and out of the lines and the crowds of people, the missionaries made their way to the desk. They presented the paperwork and declared her entry in the country, but the agent behind the desk frowned. "I'm sorry, but we're missing some paperwork."

Elder Anderson kept his cool, but there was part of him that was livid. He was determined to not leave that desk until her visa entry stamp was properly placed in her passport. After some words with the insurance agent, they arranged for the registration and left successfully.

The remainder of the week consisted of recovery from a cold, another leadership conference, and extending a baptismal date to Armen again. He had quit smoking in the interim, and was prepared for making his first covenant with the Lord.

It had been a good week, he knew that the Lord was pleased with his labors thus far, and he was looking forward to a week of a bit more normalcy before hitting the road again for another three weeks. It was a good life, albeit hectic, and he was looking forward to getting many of these trainings behind him.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A week with the Teixeirovi ( Week 15 in Prague, Week 75 in Czech )

The long drive home from Brno to Prague was a pleasant one. Elder Thompson and Elder Anderson had been asked to retrieve some property from an old apartment and were headed back to Prague on a bright saturday morning. Fog laced the edges of the rolling hills in the czech highland countryside, and the hum of the diesel van was rhythmic and almost soothing.

That week had been a whirlwind, and it was almost alien to think that it was now behind them and that there was that much more ahead of them.

Monday had been occupied with teaching and preparing for the conferences that week, as was tuesday. Unfortunately, Elder Thompson took sick as well and spent those days recovering, while Elder Anderson prepared reports, planned, and drafted agendas for the week. They found a few neat people to teach as well, and knew that their purpose was to baptize them, which was coming up for some of them.

The Elders first met Elder Teixeira on wednesday. He was an impressive man with piercing blue eyes, silvery hair, and a uniquely fluent yet foreign accent that had a uniquely Portuguese flair. His mission and vision for this tour was clear, and he spent little time mincing words. He had a job to do.

It was evident from the beginning to Elder Anderson that this man was united with the spirit of the Lord and was an instrument in the Lord's hands when it came to his teachings and training and instruction to the Elders. They spoke of goals, accountability, teaching by the spirit, praying with investigators, preach my gospel, the scriptures. They expounded the parable of the talents and talked about leadership, they discussed stories of missionaries modern and ancient. Promises were made and given to the Missionaries that stretched their faith and raised their vision, and the missionaries across the mission in all three of the conferences and both evening firesides knew that he was called of God.

It was like drinking from a fire-hose.

Interestingly enough, Elder Teixeira didn't use notes, neither did his wife. But both of them were inspiring in their delivery and application of their remarks, and Elder Anderson wished that, while this week had been exhausting, that it could have lasted just a bit longer.

In looking back on the week, he saw a few things that were most important, those being that there was so much more to be done in the field, there was so much more he could become in the time left, and there were yet many baptisms that had not been realized.

Of note, his birthday had been a great one. Many gifts had been given, but the most important gift was seeing where he had been able to make a difference in the lives of all these people, and knowing that the best was yet to come.

Elder Anderson recalled an email from many many months ago, where he suggested that a mission is like a 4 quarter sporting event with overtime, and he knew where he stood in the game and what was most important. It was overtime, and he was glad to have everything he'd ever done leading up to the moment when it would all become meaningful as he preached the gospel. It was all coming to a climax and, as far as he was concerned, that climax was going to crescendo right through the rest of his life.

He had so much more to live up to that he couldn't afford to not let his mission change him, and he knew that despite the opinions of some, the Lord changes the hearts of men for good if it is to be meaningful.

-- 
I'm grateful to be a missionary and I'm glad to see and hear missionary work changing your lives as it's changed mine. It will be interesting to read all of these letters from beginning to end and see that in myself. In the mean time, it's about the same as watching yourself grow or grow older. It happens, but you don't notice it until someone points it out.

Love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week! I know I will, we have another four day conference ahead of us, then more trainings, baptisms, and it just keeps going...

Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, September 11, 2010

A brief thought ( Week 14 in Prague, Week 74 in Czech )

Hello everyone,

I've not much to say today, believe it or not. I guess the ebb and flow of life is just as evident in missionary work. We did see some amazing things happen at the end of this week thanks to a renewed commitment to effective planning and goal setting, and I believe that when we take the time to iron out the details in what we do and especially in our discipleship, the Lord can bless us more abundantly because we are prepared for it.

I think I would like to share some thoughts about what it means to completely give ones self over to the Lord. I have a quote from Germaine Greer which reads like this:

Developing the muscles of the soul demands no competitive spirit, no killer instinct, although it may erect pain barriers that the spiritual athlete must crash through.

As we approach that "edge" and reach a point where we are between the comfortable, the familiar, the normal and the unknown, the uncharted, what some have called the "realm of the miraculous", we have a choice. To cross that threshold requires us to rely on the Lord deeper than we have before. As we selflessly and in charity give ourselves over to Him, we cross that line and the Lord turns our faith in Him and faith that there will be something across that edge into reality. The Lord loves us and desires for us to see further and become more than we can imagine now. He gives a glimpse in the pattern of the Gospel, and when we trust Him then we can begin to see what is on the other side of the hurdle for every spiritual athlete.

Love you all, and the photos are in the mail. Yes!
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Two mormons, a JW, and Kafka walk into a panelak...( Week 13 in Prague, Week 73 in Czech )

Elder Anderson stared out the window of the train whizzing through Czech countryside. He loved to see the cottages, flocks of sheep, old farmers who still did everything by hand, and then pass through a mountain tunnel and land in the middle of a sprawling metropolis, and then gradually slip back to rolling green hills and fog laced landscape.

It was the greatest mission in the world.

That morning had been spent with the Wallace Toronto foundation doing service in Uherske Hradiste, a city on the complete opposite side of the country from Prague. But fortuitously they had been there, and they had enjoyed meeting and serving with members from all over the mission. As the train picked up speed from it's last stop, the exhausted Elder looked down at himself. Not quite the appearance of a servant of the Lord, wearing muddy shoes, dark trousers (yes, trousers: they were made in the UK), his white shirt slightly unbuttoned with the service project t-shirt over the top, and his suit coat that didn't match any of his dress to put the finishing touch on what could have been a fashion nightmare. Fortunately, the drapes were drawn, Elder Thompson the new AP was sprawled on the bench in the train car fast asleep. He had been since before they'd left Uherske Hradiste. Elder Anderson's scriptures were out and he'd been deep in study about the Doctrine of Christ from 2 Nephi 31 after a spiritual intense and spiritually fruitful conference all week in Bratislava.

Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, is one of the best places to visit in Europe. Convenient, close, up to date, but with all the charm and curiosity of an ancient city, the mission selected it as the center for the Moravian-Slovakian conference for mission leaders, and the entire event was a great success. The conference had been called to introduce and kickoff the new MTC Simplified Curriculum that had begun to make it's way around the world. Apparently, few missions had been bold enough to pull it's leadership out for a week for the sake of a week-long training. But, President Irwin took the helm, planned a four day long event, and the missionaries came together. The curriculum, in essence, empowers missionaries to base their entire effort in testimony and the doctrines given by the Lord to us all, particularly from the scriptures (esp. the Book of Mormon) and from Preach My Gospel. The conference started with the Doctrine of Christ and the necessity of using it as the core of our purpose as missionaries, closely followed by challenging others to baptism within the first or second meeting. The other topics were primarily focused in using Revelation and helping investigators and members receive revelation themselves, using the book of mormon as the key to conversion, extending commitments, and setting expectations when we begin teaching. Each day was a spiritual outpouring of insights and revelation and were incredibly spiritually drawing. Elder Anderson recalled Elder Machado mentioning that he spent a whole day in the temple prior to his departure, and how exhausted he was from the work he did there. It must have felt something like a week of intense study and practice. In the evenings the missionaries went out to teach. While there were many miracles that occurred each night, one was worth particular sharing.

The first night, a storm rolled in just as the conference concluded. It thundered, flashed, and poured like they hadn't seen for quite some time. It was not time to contact, but the missionaries started hitting the panelaks. One great benefit of serving here was that apartments were inside of enclosed buildings. No getting wet or cold knocking on hundreds of doors, since they were all inside the building. The great downside, however, was that you had to get into the building first. Being czech speakers, no slovak would logically let someone in if they just randomly buzzed and asked for the door to be opened, especially when a major shooting had happened just outside of Bratislava that rocked European news. The sets of panelaks were alright, but no one was particularly interested. The missionaries moved to another row of buildings and started buzzing to get let in. No one spoke to the cold wet missionaries longer than 10 seconds via the door intercom, but they pressed on at the first door. A man came down after a few buzzes and began yelling loud and clear. "Get out of here! You don't belong here!" It was quite evident that there people to be found that night and that everything was against Elder Anderson and Pearson (his temporary companion due to sleeping arrangements). They moved to the next door and got let in, but again to no avail: No one was interested in the priceless truths the Elders had brought to teach. Elder Anderson and Elder Pearson talked it over, and they decided to pray before every door they knocked for the rest of the night. As they did so, an intense reception to the Spirit was acquired and the Elders took courage with each contact at the door. Unfortunately, the results were similar up until the last section of the panelak.

The Elders arrived at the entrance to the last part of the panelak and the storm was beating down harder than ever. They started buzzing one name after another. Some didn't answer, others were quick in their rejection. The third to last name on the list said he would come down. After several minutes of waiting, the Elders buzzed the second to last name and then the last name. Just as they pressed the name "Kafka" the Elders saw a man open the door for them. The door was magnetic, and it required someone to come down to actually open the door. The man stared at the elders, glanced at their name tags, then said "Hello, my name is Peter and I'm a Jehova's Witness."

Elder Anderson just about laughed! This was going to be interesting.

The man didn't seem to listen intently and tried to explain that he let us in more out of pity than interest, and just as the Elders were about to ask if they could go further into the building, another man walked down with a dazed look on his face. He was tall, an older man, wearing old but comfortable looking clothes.

"Umm, what are you two doing here?"

Elder Anderson bounced back and forth between the two of them, not sure who to address next. He felt good about the second and, sensing the urgency of the moment, declared their purpose. "Hello, we're here as missionaries sharing a message about Jesus Christ and about how he has called another living prophet for our day. May we come in?"

The first man just stared at the situation, wondering what would happen next. The Elders, with prayers in their hearts, watched Mr. Kafka. Kafka thought for a second, looked at the Elders and said, "Sure, come in." They walked past the threshold and stepped into the elevator.

Mr. Kafka had been to English lessons in the past, but had never learned much about the church. He spoke perfect English and studied the scriptures diligently in English, and was earnestly searching for more truth. The Elders simply but clearly laid out the message of the restoration and used the new skills they had acquired from that day's training to testify to him by the spirit. He had many questions and, for the next three days, met with the Elders to learn more about the restored gospel. He even planned on coming to church, and Elder Anderson was confident that his baptism wouldn't be too far off in the future. The Elders had never felt such a strong feeling of love for one of their investigators in such a short period of time as they did with this man, and they knew it was because the Lord had proven them and provided a way to reap the blessings they had been diligently seeking.


Another miracle (we'll keep this one shorter): The next day with Elder Read, they went to the park but had a hard time getting people to stop and listen. They sat for a moment, prayed, read a scripture, set a goal, and started off again. A few minutes later, they had an intense feeling that someone needed them on the other side of the park. They fled to the inspired spot and there on a bench was a girl in a pink coat. "That's her!" they said to each other, and they rushed over to speak with here. Her name was Nancy, and she was studying slavic languages there in Bratislava. She spoke some english and some slovak, and the Elders quickly sat down and introduced the book of mormon, bearing testimony of it. Nancy, a student from Russia, found it hard to understand in English but she did feel the spirit from Alma 7 where there is the testimony of the Savior. "Can I get this book in Russian?" The Elders were very ecstatic, prayed with her, and exchanged contact details. As they prayed, a feeling of depression left her and she felt the warmth of the Spirit from the missionaries. "I've been feeling for a while" she said before they parted, "depression, but meeting with you and your prayer have left me feeling...." she couldn't describe the feeling, and while the Elders didn't understand her russian vocabulary, they knew what she was saying. "I know this meeting was an answer to my prayers." Little did she know, she was also an answer to a heartfelt prayer.


The week had been epic, it had been draining, and Elder Anderson and Elder Thompson were looking forward to their foam mattresses on their bunk bed, right next to the leaky windows that looked out over northern Prague. It wasn't much, but it was home, and they were happy to be on their way back again. Elder Anderson did feel pangs of guilt for not getting those photo cds off as he'd been promising for some time, but they were at least burned and would be on their way soon. They had a week to breathe ahead of them and then it was zone conferences, another 4 day conference, and trainings galore until the end of October.

And he smiled.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

Saturday, August 28, 2010

On Our Way, on the Rollercoaster ( Week 12 in Prague, Week 21 in Czech )

This week has been an absolute rollercoaster. Sunday shows up, and I knew something was up. Svetlana came in the door and said all in one breath, "Hello Elder Anderson, really happy to see you, but I wanted to tell you I can't get baptized." I was floored. I think in missionary work (Hopefully not in life at large) you learn to plan for the worst and hope for the best, like smiling and being genuinely happy all the time while a crane hoists 2 tons of bricks right above your head. If it drops and hits you, you're crushed for a minute, then you get up, dust yourself off, and smile wide again saying, "Well, let's do that again!" She's got some concerns from her parents side of things (even though she's almost 50), she's struggling to forgive herself in a few ways, and apparently there are some doctrines that don't sit well with her that she didn't bring up until the last minute. So, she's not getting baptized....yet! She won't drop everything that easily, especially when the Lord gave it to her so easily compared to some. Last week she had vacation and she had free days every day she needed them this last week for the baptism and all. She even had her interview done! Overall it was a shock, and I had to grab a few shoulders to cry on before we picked up the pieces and got back to work.

The new missionaries came in this week and they are sharp as tacks. Their czech is good, they work hard, but they're pretty nervous and anxious. I guess I was too. Amazing to see what progress the Lord makes with us over time. Then it was off to the Airport to drop Sister Reese off. Do you remember Sister Reese? She was the sister missionary in my group. Time flies, doesn't it? We also took President Irwin to the airport for a conference in Frankfurt and held down the fort. We even found and taught two new people, one of them is very animated when he speaks - "Dees ees my-ah BAAAYYYbbeeeee, David-a guiso!' He's very funny. Another is a russian lady trying to learn english. It's a very different week for sure, and next week will be worse/better. We're bringing together two conferences in september for the mission leadership: one in bratislava for one half and one in prague for the other. It's a four day event and so we've had to arrange travel, food, sleeping arrangements, and a program with President Irwin for the whole week. Next saturday I won't be emailing, so expect it some other time, but we'll be assisting the Toronto Foundation in Uherske Hradiste on three service projects. President basically is using us as counselors right now, so he's keeping us very close and we're doing a lot of work that I didn't expect coming into the office. Even still, we're keeping the missionary work first and enjoying the best work ever.

I've got a new companion. Elder Doxey is training out in Ostrava, and Elder Thompson came in (go figure, but he was just serving with Elder Nestman). Elder Thompson is from my graduating class, but from the polar opposite social group. He had a mohawk, rode a harley, skateboarded, and went to punk rock concerts (Czech out this video: http://mormon.org/me/1N0F-eng it's Elder Thompson but 30 years from now). He's wonderful! We've really hit it off so far, and we'll be able to get amazing things done together. He has a profoundly deep testimony an excellent attitude. Figures that there are three of us from AF '08 in the mission now, the third is Callin Osborn. We marched together in band and I've known him since 9th grade. I knew of Elder Thompson in high school (he was the kid with the flaming red mohawk) but never really got to know him at all. So, it's going to be a pretty exciting transfer.

In a couple of weeks, actually, we'll be having another zone conference (They've asked us to have one per quarter, but so far we've had one every month), this time because Elder Texiera is coming for a visit. That will be nerve wracking! He's asked to interview me and Elder Thompson in particular, and will be running his own program with his wife for the conferences. Yikes! I'll have to brush up on my interviewing skills from Sterling Scholar. :P

I'm sending pictures home now that I've got them on CD, so look forward to a few months worth of photos.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

PS - Random Czech fact of the day: There is a famous astronomical clock in the center of Prague that was constructed centuries ago under commission of the King. The clockmaker finished the work and, in answer to his fine craftsmanship, the King ordered that he be blinded so he couldn't make another clock. The clock stands to this day, still functions perfectly, and is one of a kind in the world.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Blurry Week ( Week 11 in Prague, Week 71 in Czech )

"Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham! Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham!" *WHACK*

The phone didn't clatter to the floor this morning, Elder Anderson knew better since Elder Doxey's phone had stopped working. The new alarm was in interest of keeping things interesting in the mornings, and he really appreciated Alex Boye's solo singing. Even still, the morning started out like many others had. There was baptism in the air in Prague, with two baptisms scheduled for Prague itself and several others scheduled around the country. That week had been full of applying changes made during zone conferences, starting to ramp up for the next week with transfers (already?) and departing missionaries (Like Sister Reese, which really weirded Elder Anderson out: had it seriously already been 18 months?)

The week had been hilited with an exchange in Prague, some really neat people that they'd found with that, and primarily with daily meetings with Svetlana the Slovak who was ready to transform her life and enter into a covenant with God. She had been blessed with a week long vacation this week, giving her plenty of time to read anything she could get her hands on, meet with the missionaries, and come to the baptismal service held on Saturday. The next week she started her 12 hour workday shifts again, but the Lord was watching out for her: She had days off on Sunday, the next Friday (For her baptism) and the following Sunday (Confirmation). Somehow, things were just right, and the Elders knew that the Lord needed her in His kingdom at that moment in time. So, it was all arranged.

As Elder Anderson exercised and got ready for the rest of the day, he thought about the blessings the Lord had provided them all throughout his mission, and he knew that there were many miracles yet to happen. He fastened his tie, and clipped his tag on. So much said with so few words on such an important little name tag. That week there had been many things made even more clear to him, things regarding unity, regarding the priesthood, his calling, the mission of the kingdom of God, the Desires the Lord has for us to become perfect, and so forth. While all of it worthy of note, he chose to avoid it in favor of experiences that were fresh from that day, for in the course of writing home that day, he had to take a pause to attend the baptismal service. Following the service, Svetlana met with President Pilka (the branch president) and was welcomed in her decision to join the Prague Branch and especially to be baptized. Then, the Elders left with the zone leaders on their way to go finding. Even though it was P-Day, they knew they had more important  and enjoyable things to do, although secretly Elder Anderson was really looking forward to writing some letters home that day.

On the exchange, Elder Anderson and Elder Andersen (the zone leader from Texas) batted 1.00 in park contacting! They got off the subway and ran two blocks to the park they had chosen, laughing and telling each other how cool it was to be missionaries. They paused, and Elder  Andersen shared thoughts from a recent personal study on how grateful he was to be a missionary. With the Spirit brightly burning within them, they prayed and asked the Lord to guide those who needed them most to them. They power walked into the park and the first man they saw, Lubos, was from Slovakia. They said they were there teaching people about Faith. Lubos replied, "I believe, but I cannot make up my mind with an important decision." They sat down and introduced the book of Mormon and taught him of the restoration. They prayed, and Lubos prayed a powerful prayer for the Lord to guide him. They walked another 30 meters to a man from Hamburg, Germany on vacation. After a brief conversation about faith, he referred his information (and Elder Anderson prayed that this man would meet up with a certain friend ;) of his in the Hamburg mission). Next stop was a man two benches down named Claudio. Originally from Italy (and with no lack of Italian flair and expression) he told the elders, "I am learning many things about the God right now, so tell me something about god." "Have you heard about the Book of Mormon?" "Why, no!" And so, they arranged to bring him one in Italian after teaching him about it and what it means, along with praying at the end. The whole time, Claudio's son David Jesua was babbling away, enjoying the conversation his dad was having with two of the Lord's servants.

Finally, the missionaries headed up the path to an older mustached Czech man basking in the sun with a book by George Orwell in his hands. He hailed them, "Hello, I know your friends from five years ago." The missionaries sat down and in a few minutes discovered that this man believed, but wasn't sure about life after this life. The Elders testified of eternal families, that there is more to life in the spirit world, and that our families can be together forever. They prayed with him, and he left looking forward to their next meeting.
The whole experience testified to Elder Anderson of an idea expressed by Nephi long ago:

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

Elder Anderson knew and was very grateful for the purpose of his mission in inviting others to come unto Christ, and knew that it was the big "Why" to why he had been sent to those people that day.

Love,
Elder Brent Anderson

PS - I hope you're all as excited for School to start as I am: Dorm tracting, meeting with students and young people, and lots of work to be done!

PPS - I've finally gotten my photos put together. I'm doing a print today, and I'll get then in the mail next week (I hope - transfers are next week, so it'll be pretty intense, but photos are coming. Document!)

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Crazy Week ( Week 10 in Prague, Week 70 in Czech )

Alright, this week was much better than last week. I've got a lesson in 20 minutes and I still haven't showered. But, I've got to tell you everything!

We had zone conferences this week. This means that we planned out a 7 hour conference and we got to deliver it three times to three groups of missionaries across the whole mission. These conferences focused on basic missionary skills and so consequently we had a lot of trainings that we were able to give ourselves. I was very excited about it, I love presentation environments like these to lead and direct and serve the missionaries more effectively. I taught about teaching good member lessons (catchphrase: Just like brushing your teeth, only teach member lessons with the investigators you want to keep!) and Elder Doxey and I jointly introduced a change to our schedule as a mission moving us from goals each transfer to goals each month for baptisms. We believe this will help the mission double baptisms and will change the way that we are able to focus as missionaries on the work.

We spent the mean time on the road to olomouc, ostrava, and Banska Bystrica for exchanges which were mildly successful. I was ecstatic to see the members in Ostrava again and I even had the opportunity to teach the english class there again. There weren't many people there, but I really love those who came a lot. It was so great seeing what had happened since this time last year when I was just leaving ostrava.

While in Banska Bystrica (slovakia) I had a singular experience I will never forget. We were both prompted to go to a park (I was with a slovakian zone leader) and we headed there to find the person who needed us. We found her on a bench. She didn't want to talk to us at first, but we gently and lovingly persisted, talking to her about what brought her happiness in life. She said that Love did, and we proceeded to introduce the Book of Mormon, particularly Moroni 7 to her. As she read, she started to tear up and it was very easy to feel the spirit strongly. We testified that through Jesus Christ we can find greater hope in our lives, and she began to cry even more, and began talking to us about some challenges she's had. She thought that she needed to suffer for it by herself, and was overwhelmed in tears when we testified by the Spirit that Christ had already done so, and she didn't need to suffer any more for it. It was easily one of the highlight experiences of my entire mission rolled into a 15 minute lesson on a bench. We left her on that bench poring through the book of mormon and looking forward to her next meeting with the missionaries.

Finally, reports came in this week of massive flooding in northern bohemia, so massive that the Czech Army got called in for cleanup. The missionary force in this part of the country swapped the shirts and ties for shovels and yellow "Mormonske Pomahajici Ruce" shirts and headed out to lend a hand. I was there all day with the missionaries and, without being too nasty, we cleaned up a yard buried in the muck that had settled in from a neighboring pasture. We probably had about a swimming pool worth of slushy, stinky muddy stuff that we shoveled out, and then we moved to another house to haul wood and materials from a basement out for further cleaning. It was a very eventful day. Now I'm emailing, I've got to go change, and we'll be teaching a lesson.

We'll be having a baptism in a few weeks too. Svetlana is sticking to her date, loves church, loves the Restored gospel, and loves the Savior very much. Every meeting she tells us that this is her last chance in life to really make things right and to get on the right path. And she's right!

Love you all, hope your week was fantastic, and I wish you all the best of luck as school starts up again in a few weeks.

Elder Brent Anderson